1M 



i S OF RELIGION 

AS AMEN] "ED, SUPPLEMENTED 
AND EXPLAINED 

W. S. HARRISON 



Class t 

Book ■ H - 

CopyrigM^ 0 - 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



p /i 



THE 



ARTICLES OF RELIGION 

AS AMENDED, SUPPLEMENTED 
AND EXPLAINED 



BY 

W. S. HARRISON 

Author of "Sam Williams, a Tale of the Old 
South" and some minor publications 



NASHVILLE, TENN. 
DALLAS, TEX.; RICHMOND, VA. 
PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH 
SMITH & LAMAR, AGENTS 
1914 



Copyright, 1914 

BY 

Smith & Lamar 



JUN -•! !9!4 



@> CI. A3 7 6U0 



SJd 

The members of my Sunday School Bible Class, in Stark 
ville, Miss., including our faithful Pastor, Rev. T. 
H. Lipscomb, B.D., this little book is 
affectionately inscribed by 
The Author. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Recent discussions have emphasized anew the 
fact that our Articles of Religion are not com- 
plete. On some of our most distinctive tenets, 
as Christian Perfection, Witness of the Spirit, 
and Inspiration, we have no articles ; while some 
of the Articles are wanting in fullness of expres- 
sion. All my ministerial life I have felt the want 
of some succinct, but sufficiently full, statement 
of our creed which I could place in the hands of 
serious inquirers with the statement that "Here 
are the doctrines which Methodists believe, with 
some of the reasons why they believe them." I 
have here tried to supply just such a statement of 
doctrine. 

A full and correct statement of belief is of 
great importance to any denomination. Those 
Churches which have no articles of religion, and 
flout all such as man-made creeds, are subject to 
all manner of divisions and wild speculations. 
With just a few points of agreement, there are 
endless variations in different communities, if not 
rival Churches in the same community. The 
Bible being the only creed, each pastor or evan- 
gelist makes his own interpretation, often noth- 

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6 



The Articles of Religion 



ing more than an exaltation of his own idiosyn- 
crasy, around which warped interpretations of 
Scripture are made to twine. He secures a fol- 
lowing, and the result is a new shade of belief. 
The faith of the denomination ultimately resem- 
bles Joseph's coat of many colors. 

Think of a professor of philosophy trying for 
a position in one of our colleges, at the same 
time saying: "I repudiate all textbooks. These 
all are man-made; nature is my only textbook." 
He would at once be dismissed as a crank. Time 
was when men who sailed the seas had to depend 
upon nature at first hand as a guide in steering 
their course. That is no reason why compass and 
charts should now be thrown aside. It must be 
plain to most people that the Church of to-day 
needs the very best statement of its tenets that 
can be made. 

Of course everybody knows that the creed is 
not a substitute for the Bible. It is an aid, a 
guide in the study of the Scriptures, just as a 
textbook is a guide in the study of nature. The 
Book is the ultimate authority in religious truth, 
just as nature is the final source of information 
concerning her secrets. The utility, not to say 
necessity, of a complete statement of the articles 
of faith must be too obvious for doubt. 

The divisions in doctrinal belief among our 
Methodist people are mainly on those very sub- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 7 

jects where we have no articles. Thrown back 
on our standard authors as authority, there is 
ample room for divergence. Soon different 
schools of thought are formed, and there is dan- 
ger of the different wings of our army fighting 
each other. 

Our creed should be a full, and clear statement 
of every important doctrine of our Methodism. 
Our Articles of Religion should be altogether 
consistent and harmonious, no clashing of creed 
against creed. Then they should be in perfect 
harmony with the plain teaching of the entire 
Scriptures. In fact, each Article should be a clear 
reflection of all the rays of truth from the Bible 
on that special subject Such a creed, thus agree- 
ing with itself and with all the Scriptures, will in 
truth be in accord with the universal experience 
of mankind. It will appeal to the normal intel- 
lect, the sound reason, and the spiritual intuitions 
of the race. It will tend to organize the thought, 
the piety, and the aspirations of the entire Church. 

To complete the statement of our essential 
doctrines, I have added some Articles — to wit: 
The Inspiration of the Scriptures, the Spiritual 
State of Infants, Regeneration, Witness of the 
Spirit, Christian Perfection, the Entire Efficiency 
of Christianity to Meet All Social Problems, etc. 
These Articles, we believe, complete the circle of 
our essential beliefs, thus not in name only but in 



8 



The Articles of Religion. 



fact making our Articles of Religion stand as our 
interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. 

But wherein we may have failed to express the 
belief of the Church others, no doubt better 
equipped, will correct the errors. This effort is 
put forth with the hope that it will aid in the for- 
mation of such a creed as the wisdom of the 
Church may finally adopt. The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introductory 5 

Article I. 

God 13 

Article II. 

The Trinity 23 

Article III. 

The Son of God, the Christ 31 

Article IV. 

The Resurrection of Christ 41 

Article V. 

The Holy Spirit 45 

Article VI. 

The Inspiration of the Scriptures 57 

Article VII. 

The Sufficiency of the Scriptures for Salvation 63 

Article VIII. 

The Old Testament 73 

Article IX. 

Depravity 77 

Article X. 

The Spiritual State of Infants 87 



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io The Articles of Religion. 

Article XL Page. 
Free Will 99 

Article XII. 

The Justification of Man 103 

Article XIII. 

Regeneration, or the New Birth 109 

Article XIV. 

Witness of the Spirit 117 

Article XV. 

Christian Perfection 123 

Article XVI. 

The Entire Efficiency of Christianity 131 

Article XVII. 
Good Works 139 

Article XVIII. 

Works of Supererogation 147 

Article XIX. 

Sin After Justification 149 

Article XX. 

The Church 161 

Article XXI. 

Romish Errors 171 

Article XXII. 
Service in the People's Language 175 



Contents. 1 1 

Article XXIII. Page. 
The Sacraments 179 

Article XXIV. 
Baptism 185 

Article XXV. 
Infant Baptism 193 

Article XXVI. 
The Lord's Supper 203 

Article XXVII. 
Of Both Kinds 209 

Article XXVIII. 
The Marriage of Ministers 215 

Article XXIX. 
The Rites and Ceremonies of the Churches 221 

Article XXX. 
The Rulers of the United States of America 227 

Article XXXI. 
A Christian Man's Goods 235 

Article XXXII. 
A Christian Man's Oath 243 

Article XXXIII. 
The General Resurrection 249 

Article XXXIV. 
The General Judgment 263 



ARTICLE I. 
GOD. 

"There is but one living and true God, everlasting, 
the one eternal Spirit, without body or parts, unlimited 
in space, of infinite wisdom, power, and goodness; the 
Maker and Preserver of all things, both visible and in- 
visible." 



GOD. 



We cannot overestimate the importance of this 
first Article of Religion. A right conception of 
the nature and character of God is the key to all 
theological knowledge. That there is but one God 
is the most plainly taught doctrine of the Bible; 
and this is fully accepted by all Christians. He is 
the "one eternal Spirit." It seems right, there- 
fore, to insert this clause. Even in point of dura- 
tion, he can have no equal, no rivals. All other 
spirits, like all other things, are derived from 
this one eternal Spirit. 

The words "everlasting" and "eternal" are 
often used to express endless future duration of 
things which had a beginning ; as of the souls of 
men and the eternal life we hope to enjoy. But 
in the strict sense "eternal" means all the past 
and all the future. Such is the existence of the 
Supreme Being. "From everlasting to everlast- 
ing thou art God." 

Note also that this clause defines the very es- 
sence, the true nature, of Deity: "God is a Spirit." 
So Jesus taught. Surely no definition is complete 
without this specification. 

The Article says, "without body or parts," and 
I complete the conception by adding, "unlimited 

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1 6 The Articles of Religion 

in space/' We must insist that God really and 
truly fills all space. This is abundantly taught in 
the Book. "In him we live, and move, and have 
our being." "Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? 
or whither shall I flee from thy presence ?" The 
plain meaning of the text is that it is impossible 
to find even in imagination a place where God is 
not. 

Our minds, limited and weak, are prone to take 
refuge in the idea of form, or some semblance of 
organism, in the effort to get a concept of God. 
To many he is a gigantic man, whose presence 
somehow fills the universe. 

But organism is essentially limited. This is the 
necessity of finite beings. But God is a pure Spir- 
it, unlimited, without organism, all-knowing; 
knowing equally in all places ; equally powerful in 
every inch of space ; equal to every emergency in 
the universe in each moment of time. God every- 
where and everywhere God. Consequently he 
may be worshiped in prayer by billions of people 
at the same instant ; and he is as truly present with 
each individual as if the two were absolutely 
alone. 

There is a constant tendency in human thinking 
to minimize the thought of God by confining him 
to some mental image. This infirmity of the mind 
is age-long. The almost universal practice of 
idolatry among primitive races and the continu- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 17 

ance of the practice among many nations even to 
the present day evince the strength of this tend- 
ency. 

We should by strong mental effort brush away 
every limiting boundary and try to rise to the 
unlimited vision worthy of the infinite God. Try 
to conceive of his inconceivable greatness. He 
is great enough to be the cause of all other being, 
to crowd unlimited space with innumerable 
worlds of life and grandeur ; but so great that no 
amount of creation could add anything to him; 
so essentially, inherently great that he could not 
in the least be diminished were all created things 
remanded back to naught. Therefore he is the 
one, only one, uncreated, underived, and imperish- 
able Being. 

"The Maker and Preserver of all things, both 
visible and invisible." This satisfies the sane 
mind. A personal God, all-wise, with infinite 
power, is the sufficient cause of all other ex- 
istence. This conception of the Source of things 
is reasonable. Development can only bring out 
resources already existing. Evolution can only 
evolve inherent possibilities. Nothing can be 
evolved which did not already exist. No power 
less than God can evolve something out of noth- 
ing. 

No amount of time, with endless combinations 
of favoring conditions, could ever evolve inert 
2 



1 8 The Articles of Religion 

dead matter into life, much less into intellect. In- 
tellect does not in any form exist in dust, and dust 
cannot evolve that which it did not contain. But 
the universe is here. It never could of itself have 
come from absolute nothingness, and yet this ab- 
solute nothingness must be the starting point of 
any theory which rejects God. How can nothing- 
ness evolve anything? 

Our minds are so constituted that we must 
believe that always something has existed. Then 
either inert matter or constructive mind must 
have priority of existence. This brings us in the 
last analysis to the two primary schools of 
thought, the material and the spiritual. 

But we fail to see in matter any reason for the 
conclusion that it is the original existence. Re- 
duce matter to its elements, as iron, sulphur, oxy- 
gen, and the rest. These elements evidently have 
no power whatever of self-production. They are 
inert and dead. That they could of themselves 
have come into existence seems utterly absurd. 

But passing over the absurdity of self-origin, 
how could these elements have made and sus- 
tained the present order of things? The inherent 
laws of nature, we are told, are sufficient for all 
the outcome. Then the laws of nature must have 
the constructing force and guiding wisdom which 
makes them nothing less than God. Under an- 
other name we would have the same God. 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 19 

It is freely admitted that these laws are the in- 
struments of God in bringing about the present 
results. But that these laws, blind as fate, should 
move harmoniously of themselves to sublime 
ideals is a marvelous conception. Yet this is what 
many seem to believe. This is a giant faith, and, 
like most giants, is deficient in mental acumen. 

How is a new world to be started ? Why, we 
are told that out in space there are immense voids 
or vacant places destitute of worlds. These voids 
are so extensive that rays of light would be ages 
passing through them. Such a void, surrounded 
by great star clusters like our galaxy, becomes the 
pooling place of star dust. 

From many causes fine particles are thrown off 
from the surface of worlds. At a certain degree 
of fineness these particles cease to be affected by 
the law of gravitation. Then they are caught by 
another law, the law of radiation, operating in the 
opposite direction from the law of gravitation. 
This law of radiation drives the fine dust out into 
the void space, where it becomes the nucleus of 
the new world. 

This star dust in the course of ages becomes a 
huge mass of materials, as our earth was when 
it was without form and waste. This, we are told, 
is the way that worlds or systems of worlds grow. 
As the old worlds wear out, the new worlds grow. 
Thus endlessly the activities of the universe go 



20 



The Articles of Religion 



on. Now, in order for a great nebulous mass of 
materials to become a world of life and beauty, it 
must either have in itself the potency of a finished 
world or be in connection with resources from 
which everything necessary for the finished prod- 
uct may be drawn. 

Far be it from me to discount the universal 
reign of law. But laws, however perfect, cannot 
manifest an intelligence which they do not pos- 
sess. The intelligence makes the perfect laws. 
The beautiful order w T hich prevails in the heavens, 
the perfect accuracy in the revolutions of the 
planets, the exact inclination of the earth to the 
plane of the ecliptic, which assures the ever-re- 
turning seasons of seedtime and harvest, and 
many other evidences of designing wisdom, if not 
true, make nature false to reason. 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and 
the firmament showeth his handiwork." This ac- 
cords with the world's best reason. The unper- 
verted reason reads the sign manual of the eternal 
God written in plain letters on all the face of 
nature. "For the invisible things of him from 
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being 
understood by the things that are made, even 
his eternal power and Godhead." (Rom. i. 20.) 

But, passing over the impossibility of self-pro- 
ducing worlds, let us inquire how life is to get 
started in the new worlds forming out in space. 



A mended, Supplemen ted, and Explained. 2 1 

The spontaneous origin of life is out of the ques- 
tion. Life from life is the universal law. 

Of course the new worlds begin in the cold of 
space; just how cold is a matter of conjecture, 
but surely by a hundred degrees too cold for the 
existence of any form of life. This same cold of 
space prevails all round the new world, so that 
no life could possibly come from other worlds. 
Unless this new development is in contact with 
life on the outside, no life could ever be developed. 
That was the case with our world and with all 
worlds. Thus life is impossible in any world un- 
less that world is in contact with God. 

There is truly in nature a tendency to order, 
to health, to normal conditions. In each pro- 
ductive movement there is an ideal suggestive of 
designing wisdom. This ideal is often ages in 
advance of the movement seen by us. Thus na- 
ture in many of her phases is working to ends 
far out of sight in the future. To God, and to him 
only, the end is known from the beginning. In 
ways beyond our power to mention Nature is 
forever proclaiming in Reason's ear this greatest 
truth : "The Hand that made us is divine." 



ARTICLE II. 
THE TRINITY. 

"In the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, 
f one substance, power, and eternity — the Father, the 
on, and the Holy Spirit." 



THE TRINITY. 



The doctrine of the Trinity is confessedly mys- 
terious. It is strictly a matter of revelation, as it 
probably lies beyond all human investigation. It 
may be given, but it is not contrary to, our reason. 
In fact, it should be no surprise to find in the 
revelation of God something to which we our- 
selves are analogous. Each man is a trinity, hav- 
ing body, mind, and soul. These departments of 
our nature are distinct, and may be treated sep- 
arately. Yet they are vitally united; together 
they constitute the man. 

There is a strong tendency among materialistic 
thinkers to reduce God to a single force, a blind 
energy, working to what end no one can tell. But 
the Bible reveals God as a living, conscious, work- 
ing Personality, guiding the destinies of universal 
being to an end worthy of God. 

To find that God, the great eternal Spirit, is 
complex in the constituency of his Being, variety 
of personal activity in absolute unity, is calculated 
to strengthen our faith in the great verities of re- 
ligion, because to such Pattern we find nature so 
largely conformed. God is thus revealed as the 
prototype reflected in all nature. As already ob- 
served, man is a trinity, a threefold unity. Even 

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26 



Th-e Articles of Religion 



the mind itself is threefold — reason, sensibility, 
and will, constituting the mind. In our great lum- 
inary we have the globe, the light, and the heat ; 
these make the sun. So we might proceed almost 
endlessly. Ours is a universe of trinities. There- 
fore the conclusion comes with the clearness of 
conviction that all things are the offspring of a 
Trinity. 

It only remains to quote a few of the proof 
texts which establish this Biblical tenet: 'There 
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, 
the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three 
are one." (i John v. 7.) This text, so explicitly 
stating the doctrine, is not well sustained by an- 
cient Greek manuscripts and is left out of West- 
cott and Hort's Greek Testament and also out of 
the Revised Version published by the American 
Bible Society. This does not necessarily prove 
that the text is spurious, for we do not know what 
future investigations may disclose. 

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
Spirit, be with you all." (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) In this 
familiar benediction we have an act of apostolic 
worship in which prayer is offered to each of the 
three persons of the Godhead. St. Paul was evi- 
dently a trinitarian. 

"Wherefore I give you to understand, that no 
man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 27 

accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is 
the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit." ( i Cor. xii. 3.) 
In this passage the three persons of the Trinity 
are clearly brought to view. No man speaking by 
the Holy Spirit, by the authority or inspiration of 
the Holy Spirit, can call Jesus accursed or con- 
demn him as being less than what he claims to 
be — the Son of God. And no man can say that 
Jesus is the Lord unless he speaks according to 
the mind of the Holy Spirit. 

"And now the Lord God, and the Spirit, hath 
sent me/' In this commission of Isaiah two per- 
sons of the Godhead are revealed. We know that 
the Son, or Word, also was there, because St. 
John tells us : "In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God." This Word became flesh and dwelt among 
us, the Christ of God, the Redeemer of men. 

We should not let our conception of the Trinity 
mar in any sense our conception of the essential 
unity of God. The word "person," though the 
best we have for the purpose, is apt to mislead, 
because we ordinarily attach to it the idea of 
distinct and separate individuality. That is not 
the meaning in our Article. The three persons in 
the Godhead are not separate individualities. 
They do not act independently of each other. 

The Son by his death redeemed the world. But 
that was not an act apart from the Father and the 



28 



The Articles of Religion 



Spirit. True, the human body only could die ; but 
the whole divinity suffered. Redemption was the 
act of God. We are born of the Spirit, cleansed 
by the Spirit. It is said also that we are born of 
God. "If children, then heirs of God," not heirs 
of the Holy Spirit separately. Thus all the works 
of Deity, whether by the Father, the Son, or by 
the Spirit, are works of the one God. We must, 
therefore, eliminate from the word "person" the 
conception of separate individuality. 

The popular conception of God the Father 
standing grim and wrathful with the drawn sword 
of justice, ready, seemingly anxious, to cut the 
sinner down, while God the Son pleads for mercy, 
is misleading. This view may result from the 
overworking of such passages as this : "If any 
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father." 
The word translated "advocate" is TrapdKXrjTos, a 
comforter or helper. The same word is used 
to describe the relation of the Holy Spirit to all 
the children of God, their Helper. 

Let us, then, read the sentence anew: "If any 
man sin, we have a Comforter, a Helper, a Sym- 
pathizer with the Father, helping the fallen one 
to repent and regain faith." With the Father, 
possibly in conjunction with the Father ; for it is 
God himself yearning over the wayward son, try- 
ing to win him back to obedience and safety. 

God is one and can never be divided in action. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 29 

We may have a clearer view of this by again re- 
ferring to man. We have here the physical man, 
the intellectual man, and the moral man. Action 
may spring from either of these, yet not one of 
them completes an action without the concurrence 
of the other two. Sometimes one and sometimes 
another is foremost in the movement, but man as 
a unit performs the action. Here, then, is variety 
in unity in all the acts of life. In a sense thus 
there are three persons in one manhood. 

Why should not something like this, though 
infinitely more perfect, prevail in the divine na- 
ture? No doubt while there may be more variety, 
there is closer unity in the divine nature than in 
the human. 

Man is often at variance with himself. The 
moral man goes into sin over the protests of the 
intellectual man. But the intellectual man, though 
protesting, nevertheless yields and follows, not 
blindly, but with feeble resistence, into ruin. 
Through ambition the intellectual man drives the 
physical man into such excesses that there is a 
breakdown in mid-life. 

The Divine Being is infinitely wiser. Perfect 
harmony prevails in all his works. The nearer 
man can approach to this perfection, the better, 
and the better will be his life. It should be his 
aim to attain a perfect balance of all his powers. 
Excess in the intellectual man is apt to make the 



30 



The Articles of Religion. 



neurasthenic or the maniac. Undue bias given 
to the moral man tends to make the fanatic, and 
the physical man may put on muscle at the ex- 
pense of the intellectual and moral man. 

Thus we are very like and very unlike God. 
God is one in nature, triune in functional activity. 
This shows him to be the Prototype as well as the 
Maker of nature. All nature bears, however 
faintly, the image of her Creator. Even the in- 
animate forms of matter, however small, still 
have substance, form, and function. Thus we see 
the Trinity stamped on every fiber of being. 



ARTICLE III. 



THE SON OF GOD, THE CHRIST. 

"The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very 
and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, 
took man's nature in the womb of the blessed virgin; so 
that two whole and perfect natures— that is to say, the 
Godhead and manhood — were joined together in one 
person, never to be divided ; whereof is one Christ, very 
God and very man, who truly suffered, was crucified, 
dead and buried, to make reconciliation for us, and to 
be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for 
actual sins of men. *The offering of Christ once made 
is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfac- 
tion for all the sins of the whole world, both original 
and actual, and there is none other satisfaction for sin 
but that alone." 



♦Translated from the Twentieth Article. 



THE SON OF GOD, THE CHRIST. 

Redemption is clearly set forth in this Article. 
The atonement is God's interposition in behalf 
of man for the best interests of the race. It is 
God's answer to moral conditions on earth. When 
the first man by disobedience broke his primal 
relation with God, he became a sinner. He for- 
feited original righteousness. He was away from 
God. Here the work of redemption took effect ; 
it was the only way of return. "For what the 
law could not do, in that it was weak through the 
flesh [the law was powerless because of man's 
sinful nature], God sending his own Son in the 
likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin [as a sin 
offering], condemned sin in the flesh [conquered 
sin in its own stronghold, the sinful nature of 
man] : that the righteousness of the law might be 
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but 
after the Spirit." (Rom. viii. 3.) Thus in con- 
sequence of the atonement the requirements of 
the law can be met by us, if we live not by the 
promptings of our sinful nature, but are led by 
the enlightening Word and the leadings of the 
Holy Spirit. 

Consider the nature of the atonement. 

First, it is sacrificial. "And he is the propi- 
3 (33) 



34 



The Articles of Religion 



tiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but 
also for the sins of the whole world." (i John 
ii. 2.) "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the world." (John i. 29.) 

But this principle of vicarious suffering has 
been objected to as wholly unjust. Among equals 
before the law the objection might hold good. 
But this is not a case in point. The divinity of 
Christ lifts him far above human comparisons. 
As God he was the Source of law, above all law ; 
and if he chose as a volunteer to come under the 
law, to which as God he was not subject, and to 
suffer vicariously for man, no principle of right 
or justice was violated. His coming into human 
conditions was altogether voluntary ; his death on 
the cross was not less so. "I lay down my life, 
that I may take it again. No man taketh it from 
me, but I lay it down of myself." (John x. 17, 
18.) This sacrificial offering meets every demand 
of law and right, so that God may "be just, and 
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." 
(Rom. iii. 26.) 

Secondly, the atonement is remedial. It means 
healing for the sin-sick souls of men. The evil 
done by sin must be undone by grace. Man must 
be restored and spiritually born again. He needs 
new life, moral health, spiritual growth, mental 
saneness; and here is the remedy. 

Thirdly, the atonement is progressive. This 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 35 

has been too generally overlooked. To be brought 
back to God with new life, with vigorous spiritual 
health and intellectual sanity, is glorious, aye, a 
glorious stepping-stone to things still more glori- 
ous, a superior grade of soul, a finely grained 
manhood, a divinely finished character. These 
without atoning grace we could never have; but 
"where sin abounded, grace did much more 
abound." Man, cleansed and polished by divine 
grace, under the dispensation of suffering may 
attain spiritual fiber far superior to what might 
have been secured under the reign of original 
righteousness. The world's chief good and best 
civilization are provided for in the redeeming 
sacrifice of Christ. 

The atonement is the most important event in 
the history of the race. It emphasizes anew the 
fact that man bears the image of his Maker. It 
also brings into closer light the Fatherhood of 
God and the consequent beneficence of universal 
providence. Here also we see the tie which binds 
mankind into a brotherhood more sacred even 
than that of the one blood of which we are all 
made. Therefore, as we should naturally expect, 
it has above all other events given trend to the 
life and civilization of the world. 

We should not, therefore, be surprised to find 
that ancient history converged to this event and 
that modern history has radiated from it. Such 



36 The Articles of Religion 



an event would naturally be the attracting center 
of world-wide movements. Necessarily this event 
stands alone in the grandeur of its importance; 
it could happen only once in the history of the 
world. To see, then, that all the streams of his- 
tory are affected by it is just what should be ex- 
pected. 

Jewish life and national character were instinct 
with the issues of the atonement. Their sacri- 
ficial services, their Messianic prophecies, and the 
consequent expectant attitude of their vivid faith 
prepared an expectant people for the coming 
of Christ. Here we find the spiritual environ- 
ment in which the manhood of the Christ reached 
atoning perfection. 

The spiritual preparation which was to round 
out the "fullness of time" for the great advent 
is not to be looked for among the Pharisaic 
rulers of the Church, but rather in the living 
faith of the common people, and was manifest in 
such characters as Zacharias and Elizabeth, Mary 
and Joseph, and Simeon and Anna. These give 
unmistakable evidence of a type of piety, the 
purest the world had ever known. 

Such characters as Andrew, Peter, James, 
John, and Nathanael up by the lake of Galilee in- 
dicate a wide extension of this excellent grade of 
religion. When the wicked rule, either in Church 
or State, the best people mourn ; but they are hot 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 2)7 

all drawn from their integrity. Even in the de- 
cadent days of Ahab, when from Elijah's point 
of view it seemed that all had gone astray, God 
assured him that seven thousand remained true. 
So it was when Jesus came. There were vast 
multitudes of the common people ready to hear 
him gladly. 

This was no sudden outbreak of piety, but is 
what might reasonably have been expected from 
the rich flow of prophecy and admonition which 
God had given to the Jewish people. It had 
been a long time since the people had had an open 
vision of prophecy ; therefore the stream of piety 
which survived among the lowly had been time- 
tried and fire-tested. The time demanded people 
of giant faith, and truly there were giants in 
those days. 

The age-long movement which finally produced 
John the Baptist might certainly be counted on 
to bring forth a woman fit to be the mother of 
the long-expected Messiah. Thus the spiritual 
element in the preparation of the world for 
Christ was furnished by the Jews. 

The Greeks supplied the language. The Gre- 
cian people excelled in mental activity. In some 
of the finer qualities of mind they have had no 
superiors. Their poets, historians, and orators, 
by their excellent mental endowments, brought 
their language to a degree of perfection never 



38 



The Articles of Religion 



before attained by any tongue. It was undoubted- 
ly the best vehicle of thought then in the world. 

By the world-wide conquest of the Greeks, as 
well as by the fine quality of the language itself, 
this tongue became well-nigh universal just in 
time to become the mental instrument in the proc- 
lamation of the gospel of the kingdom of Christ. 
What a blessing that the literature of the New 
Testament was given to the world in the Greek 
language, a language so elevated, so refined, and 
so capable of expressing every shade of thought ! 
Even with this tongue the sacred writers some- 
times labored with the excessive weight of 
thought. Surely there was no other language in 
which such a message could have been so well 
given to man. We are all, like Paul, debtors to 
the Greeks. 

Thus the most highly endowed men among the 
most enlightened people labored unconsciously to 
prepare a language suitable for the Messiah's use. 

Then the Romans, succeeding to universal em- 
pire, with a better genius for law than had been 
shown by any other people, had prepared a vast 
arena for the spread of the new spiritual empire. 

Thus the world was prepared for the coming 
of its Divine Teacher. It was the "fullness of 
time." In no previous age had there been any- 
thing like such a combination of favoring condi- 
tions. Jewish prophecy had raised the general 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 39 

expectancy of the coming of the Desire of all 
nations. Grecian language was prepared to con- 
vey its teachings over the world. Roman law re- 
strained the bloodthirstiness of the petty king- 
doms to such an extent that the new kingdom 
could not be crushed in its infancy. 

Then it was a time of universal peace. The 
temple of Janus was closed, the nations had rest, 
the clamor of war was hushed, that the Prince of 
Peace might catch the ear and heart of the world ! 
Thus by a combination of age-long movements, 
conspiring and uniting with the precision of a 
divinely directed plan, the world was ready for 
its Christ. 

Since his coming the history of the world has 
largely been a history of Christian civilization. 
Undoubtedly the teaching of Christ has given 
trend to the controlling thought of the world, 
and that influence in human thought was never 
stronger than it is to»day. Thus we clearly see 
that the progressive power of the atonement is, 
and always has been, the controlling influence in 
the vast social movements throughout the world. 



ARTICLE IV. 



THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

"Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took 
again his body, with all things appertaining to the per- 
fection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into 
heaven, and there sitteth, until he return to judge all 
men at the last day." 



THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is 
of the first importance. The fact of his resur- 
rection is the crowning proof of his divine nature 
and the pledge of the final resurrection of all 
the human race. It is the keystone in the mighty 
arch of truth contained in the New Testament. 
Coming down as a prophecy from the Old Testa- 
ment, often foretold by Christ himself, the cir- 
cumstances attending it are minutely given by 
each of the evangelists, each from his own view- 
point. Then the Acts of the Apostles is a his- 
tory of the thought as it affected the lives and 
teachings of all the principal witnesses in the 
very earliest period of the infant Church. It is 
the leading thought in all the Epistles and is the 
triumphant note in the Apocalypse. In short, 
this great truth is so much the web and woof of 
the New Testament that faith in that Book as an 
inspired message could not survive a discount 
of the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. 

Finally, St. Paul makes a partial summing up 
of the evidence as it was clear to all in his day: 
"For I delivered unto you first of all that which 
I also received, how that Christ died for our 
sins according to the scriptures ; and that he 

(43) 



44 



The Articles of Religion. 



was buried, and that he rose again the third day 
according to the scriptures: and that he was 
seen of Cephas, then of the twelve : after that he 
was seen of above five hundred brethren at once ; 
of whom the greater part remain unto this pres- 
ent, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he 
was seen of James ; then of all the apostles. And 
last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born 
out of due time." (i Cor. xv. 3-8.) 

No fact in history is better attested by docu- 
mentary evidence. Then the vitality which this 
great truth has given to the gospel is an age- 
long witness, and Christendom is to-day the 
great monumental evidence of the resurrection 
of Jesus from the dead. 



ARTICLE V. 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

"The Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and 
the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with 
the Father and the Son, very and eternal God." 



THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

I say Holy Spirit instead of Holy Ghost. The 
word "ghost" does not in the popular mind in 
this age stand for God. Rather it is associated 
with the superstition of our forefathers. It is 
suggestive of a visitant from the tombs lurking 
around the homes of the timid. The word is 
also suggestive of limitation and bodily form, and 
is, therefore, inadequate to express the true idea 
of God. Spirit is the better word. And even 
with its use it is hard to get the mind to take in 
the idea of an infinite God absolutely unbounded 
by time or space. 

Mrs. Valcore Randolph Bonnell gathered a class 
of children in the factory district to give them a 
lesson in religious knowledge. The first lesson 
was about God. She earnestly endeavored to 
impress upon their minds that God is a Spirit. 
The next day, when the class came together, a 
review was first in order. "Now, children, what 
is God ?" There was silence. Finally a little girl 
answered timidly : "God is a ha'nt." In her mind 
"spirit" and "haunt" were identical. Some such 
mental image comes up in most minds when the 
word "ghost" is used. No doubt "ghost" is bet- 
ter than "ha'nt," but we should no longer use a 

(47) 



4 8 



The Articles of Religion 



term which tends to minify God in the popular 
conception. 

True, the word has a place in our sacred 
classics, especially in hymnology, and will so 
abide. Many people still have reverent emotions 
connected with its use. We would not for a 
moment disturb such tender regard. The word 
seems to be exactly in place in the grand old 
doxology, where it so fittingly rhymes with all the 
heavenly host: 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; 
Praise him, all creatures here below; 
Praise him above, ye heavenly host ; 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

By all means let the word stand in this place, 
and let generations yet to come still sing with the 
unction which the stanza suggests. But the word 
is no longer in general use. It belongs to a past 
age, and there is no good reason why the church 
service should not in its terminology be up-to- 
date. 

All the texts and arguments used to establish 

the doctrine of the Trinity, of course, serve to es- 
tablish the divine personality of the Holy Spirit. 
Without repeating these arguments or going at 
length into a discussion of the subject, we may 
say in a word that the name, the works, and the 
character of God are in the Scriptures applied to 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 49 

the Holy Spirit. Therefore, according to these 
Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is God, 

The Holy Spirit is the great Executive in the 
work of saving the world. This much is implied 
in the farewell address of Jesus to his disciples : 
"I tell you the truth, It is expedient for you that 
I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter 
will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will 
send him unto you. And when he is come, he 
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteous- 
ness, and of judgment: of sin, because they be- 
lieve not on me; of righteousness, because I go 
to my Father, and ye see me no more ; of judg- 
ment, because the prince of this world is judged." 
(John xvi. 7-1 1.) 

Here is indicated a permanent change of per- 
sonality in the executive work of salvation. This 
religion with a greater power of spirituality was 
now to assert universal dominion. In this it was 
simply coming to its own. From the beginning 
it had the promise of blessing to all men. "In 
thee [Abraham] shall all the families of the earth 
be blessed." The Messianic prophecies always 
took a world-wide scope. 

Jesus was all the time conscious that he was 
completing a world religion. "And I, if I be 
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
me." (John xii. 32.) "This," says the evan- 
gelist, "he said signifying what death he should 
4 



5° 



The Articles of Religion 



die." It also signifies that Jesus was entirely 
conscious of the wonderful influence this death 
was to have on the destinies of all men. 

"It was said to them of old time, Thou shalt 
not kill; but I say unto you." This form of 
speech was repeated again and again. He was 
purposely pushing the fundamental principles to 
their source and fixing responsibility in the 
thought, where it really belongs. He was ful- 
filling, or completing, the law. All the dis- 
tinctive principles which he taught were of uni- 
versal application. He thought in world-wide 
conceptions and taught in terms comprehending 
all mankind. 

In perfect consistency with the all-compre- 
hending thought of Christ, the work of the Holy 
Spirit concerns the whole world. "He shall re- 
prove the world of sin." The word translated 
"reprove" is a grammatical form of i\eyx<*> (eleg- 
cho), "to prove, demonstrate, convince." The 
work of the Spirit is to convince the world of sin. 
This has in part been done. The world every- 
where recognizes the existence of sin. Some few 
have tried to refine sin into a disease of the 
body or a defect of the mind. But the self-con- 
demnatory sentence of the great majority is : "We 
are guilty." "Because they believe not on me." 
That men did not recognize and receive virtue 
when it was so plainly concreted among them 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 5 1 

shows the terrible prevalence and deep-seated 
malignity of sin. 

"Of righteousness." This also has been ac- 
complished or is in process of accomplishment. 
The world recognizes the existence and value of 
a high standard of religious life. See how quick 
the world is to point out the shortcomings of 
Church members. Even wicked men know very 
well what a Christian ought to be. 

"Because I go to my Father, and ye see me no 
more." The resurrection of Jesus from the 
tomb and his ascension into heaven are the final 
links in the chain of evidence which forever es- 
tablish the triumph of Christ and the consequent 
reign of righteousness. Then how logical : "The 
Spirit shall convince the world of righteousness, 
because I go to my Father, and ye see me no 
more" ! 

"And of judgment." This demonstration easily 
follows the other two. The prevalence of sin 
where righteousness is possible necessarily de- 
mands the judgment. Men readily recognize this 
fact; and though they affect an outward bold- 
ness, yet in their secret consciousness they dread 
a scrutiny into their conduct. 

"Because the prince of this world is judged," 
or condemned. That means conquered. The 
evil genius, the spirit of the world, has been over- 
come. The decisive moral battle has been fought, 



52 



The Articles of Religion 



and righteousness has won. Therefore it is now 
and forever will be dominant. It has a moral 
right to exist, which sin has not. The forces of 
Providence w r ork for righteousness. "All things 
work together for good to them that love God." 

By the coming of the Holy Spirit after the de- 
parture of the Redeemer we are not to suppose 
that the Spirit had not always been in the world 
or that the Son was going to leave it. He says 
plainly that ''where two or three are gathered 
together in my name, there am I in the midst." 
In the fullness of his nature God is always pres- 
ent. But necessarily the time before the coming 
of the Saviour was different in administration 
from that which succeeds this greatest of all 
events. 

The age before the coming of Christ was pro- 
phetic. It was the Messianic age. Religion was 
directed forward to the coming One. Hope and 
joyous expectation clustered about the coming 
Messiah. Prophecy centered on him. The very 
forms of worship were adumbrative. The sacri- 
fices pointed to the great Sacrifice. 

But when the great work of redemption was 
done, a new age, the spiritual age of the world, 
had come. Types and shadows were lost in ful- 
fillment. The Desire of all nations had come, 
and therefore the religion was henceforth to be 
for all men. "The Sun of Righteousness has 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 53 

arisen with healing in his wings" for Gentiles as 
well as Jews. And now the Spirit, the new Ex- 
ecutive, is to carry light and healing into all the 
world. 

The Holy Spirit was the Source of the inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures. "For the prophecy came 
not in old time by the will of man : but holy men 
of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Spirit." (2 Pet. i. 21.) This same Spirit is the 
power which works in man to quicken faith, in- 
cite to repentance, and to effect regeneration, or 
the new birth. "Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy 
he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and 
the renewing of the Holy Spirit." "Except a 
man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can- 
not enter into the kingdom of God." "That 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 

The Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of true 
Christians as the Divine Comforter and the 
Source of heavenly joy. "And I will pray the 
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, 
that he may abide with you forever; even the 
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, 
because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: 
but ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and 
shall be in you," This same great Comforter 
shall be our Teacher and the sure Interpreter of 
the sacred Word to earnest seekers after truth. 



54 The Articles of Religion 



"The Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom 
the Father shall send in my name, he shall teach 
you all things, and bring all things to your re- 
membrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." 
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they 
are the sons of God." "The Holy Spirit shall 
teach you in the same hour what you ought to 
say." 

Thus we see how vital is the relation which 
man sustains to God. All of us should be im- 
pressed with the fact that we are never absent 
from him. Our most secret sins are committed 
in the face of Jehovah. God strives with us 
against sin, sticking closer than a brother, still 
reproving and admonishing even after all earthly 
friends have given up in despair. From the 
lowest depths of sin, if we yield to him, he will 
lead us through the gloom of repentance to a 
joyous faith, to the glorious new birth, into the 
new world of righteousness, joy, and peace in the 
Holy Spirit. 

This persistence shows God's great love for 
human souls. He who "so loved the world, that 
he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should . . . have eternal life," 
will not fail to use all the influences of his provi- 
dence that these redeemed souls may be saved. 
Where we see only stupidity, dullness, or hopeless 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 55 

indifference, he sees the jewel which should 
sparkle in the diadem of heaven. 

The divine estimate of the human soul thus 
manifest should startle us into a proper sense, 
each of his own soul. That in us which drew 
from heaven its most precious gift and sets in 
motion the resources of his providence to save 
should surely be our chief concern. And an 
honest concern for our souls will not be in vain. 
It accords with universal experience that when- 
ever a man adjusts his finer spiritual ears to the 
voice of Heaven he never fails to receive the 
admonition and help which starts him toward 
right living and joyous experience. The Holy 
Spirit is the one universal Presence. Commune 
with this Spirit and you commune with all the 
best of mankind, because he who touches your 
heart touches all other hearts of like disposition. 
This is the communion of saints, which consti- 
tutes so large a part of the joy both of earth and 
heaven. 



ARTICLE VI. 



THE INSPIRATION OF THE 
SCRIPTURES. 

"The inspiration by which the Holy Scriptures were 
written was an illumination by the Holy Spirit of the 
minds of the sacred writers, whereby they gave a full 
and inerrant revelation of all the truth necessary to 
our salvation." 



THE INSPIRATION OF THE 
SCRIPTURES. 



The inspiration of the Scriptures is clearly 
taught in the Book. David thus expressed him- 
self as to his own spiritual illumination: "The 
Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word 
was in my tongue." (2 Sam. xxiii. 2.) Thus 
David was inspired or aided by the Holy Spirit. 
Jesus himself bore testimony to the fact that 
David was inspired, classing him with Moses and 
the prophets : "All things must be fulfilled, which 
were written in the law of Moses, and in the 
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." 
(Luke xxiv. 44.) This claim of David has been 
allowed by all in every age who believe in the 
divine origin of the Bible. 

"The prophecy came not in old time by the will 
of man : but holy men of God spake as they were 
moved [fcpofievoi, pheromenoi ; borne, surely up- 
ward into a clearer mental state] by the Holy 
Spirit." (2 Pet. i. 21.) "All scripture is given 
by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. iii. 16.) The 
word OeoTTvevcrTos (theopneustos) , from 6e6s 
(Theos), God, irvio) (pneo), to breathe, is cor- 
rectly translated inspiration, inbreathing, a 
breathing into. God, who originally breathed 

(59) 



6o 



The Articles of Religion 



into man the breath of life and he became a liv- 
ing soul, later breathed into the consciousness 
of some men and they became inspired teachers. 
These texts show that our Article gives the true 
definition, an illumination by the Holy Spirit of 
the minds of the inspired writers. 

Mn Beecher compared the inspiration of the 
Scriptures to a large island rising from the bosom 
of the deep. In this parable the surrounding 
water represents the unaided human intelligence. 
The different elevations of the land indicate the 
amount of inspiration necessary for writing the 
different parts of the Bible. Part of the island 
would be but little above the water level, little 
inspiration being required to record passing 
events and so to write the historical books. Much 
would be table-land, showing the writing to be 
far above the human level ; while some of the 
most precious passages, revealing the very heart 
of God, would, like mountain peaks, pierce the 
very heavens with their supernal light. This, of 
course, is speculation, but it has the semblance of 
truth. 

Revelation was made to human intelligence. 
Our reason must interpret. Reason is a precious 
gift of God, as much so as is revelation. With- 
out the one we could not have the other. The 
Bible is so plain that any degree of intelligence 
can get from it truth enough for the conduct of 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 61 



life and the salvation of the soul. At the same 
time it is so profound that the greatest minds 
through a long lifetime may gather its treasures 
without exhausting its meaning. The same Spirit 
who inspired the Word is our best Guide to its 
meaning. He will enlighten our minds if we in- 
voke his aid. "We have an unction from the 
Holy One, and we know all things" necessary to 
our salvation and right living. 



ARTICLE VII. 



THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIP- 
TURES FOR SALVATION. 

"Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to 
salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor 
may be proved thereby, is not required of any man, 
that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be 
thought requisite or necessary to salvation. Those 
books of the Old and New Testaments, as they are 
commonly received, we do receive and account canoni- 
cal. ,, 



THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE SCRIP- 
TURES FOR SALVATION. 

All the truths, principles, and rules necessary 
to salvation and right living might have been com- 
pressed into a very few chapters; but God did 
not see fit to give us our Bible in such abstract 
form. Instead, we have a large number of books, 
comprising most of the literature of ancient Is- 
rael. From the call of Abraham to the close of the 
New Testament canon is more than two thou- 
sand years. This was the long period of religious 
development and the revelation of divine truth. 
The high service of perfecting religion was con- 
fined almost exclusively to the Jews. They had 
a genius for religion, as the Greeks had for art 
and the Romans for law. This makes their his- 
tory sacred, not because they were especially 
good, but because good for all the world came out 
of their struggles in their private and national 
life. 

In a long national life they had wonderful and 
varied experiences. Their history, fraught with 
momentous issues, must always be of inestimable 
value to all the rest of the world, because they 
were the custodians of true religion. 

The divinely given task was theirs to prove to 
5 . .. (65) 



66 



The Articles of Religion 



themselves and show to all the world the prac- 
tical value of the principles of this religion. The 
light of truth grows with their growth ; therefore 
their whole life has a religious significance. Re- 
ligion was concreted in their history. Every 
commandment, every principle and rule of life, 
was put to actual trial in their varied experiences. 

Here we study conscience-training and charac- 
ter-building in the daily actions of real, living 
people. The revelation is made plain, because we 
can see the very motives and springs of action. 
We see men in trying emergencies and awful 
crises, in grand successes and in dismal failures. 
We are continually reminded of the constant 
presence of God and the supremacy of his laws. 
The criterion of right is the line along which we 
see people struggling, now on one side, now on 
the other. The smile of approval ever rests on 
obedience; the frown of justice, on transgression. 

Thus over and over the principles which make 
for righteousness are illustrated, till the way of 
life is so plain that the wayfaring men of every 
nation, however densely ignorant, need not err 
therein. 

In the New Testament we see the same con- 
crete teaching by living examples; the same 
blessing on right doing, the same curse on dis- 
obedience. Finally, the Great Teacher concreted 
the everlasting truth in his inimitable parables. 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 67 

The parables of the prodigal son, the good Samar- 
itan, and the vineyard, where the laborers "re- 
ceived every man a penny," are as truly illustra- 
tive of truth as if all the characters were really 
historical. 

Thus the sacred history of more than two thou- 
sand years becomes a long chronological black- 
board on which we see the great Master working 
out the problems of destiny and demonstrating to 
all the world those principles which make for 
the supreme good of mankind. Thus the suffi- 
ciency of the Scriptures becomes more and more 
apparent as we study them in the making. 

The supreme wisdom of giving us the Book 
in this form may be readily discerned. The great 
doctrines of the Bible are not dependent upon 
verbal accuracy or on isolated texts which hu- 
man ingenuity might misconstrue. In the history 
of the chosen people we see the essential doc- 
trines of religion concreted in actual human life. 

1. The awful fact of sin. No one can read 
the Bible and not be impressed with the blight of 
sin. In this Book the human heart is laid bare. 
The motives and springs of action, evil as well 
as good, are plainly seen. We see all grades of 
people, with false pretenses, shallow excuses, and 
other vain disguises, going into all manner of sin. 
We see them taking the sweets of iniquity to their 
lascivious souls and smacking their guilty lips 



68 



The Articles of Religion 



with the false presumption that no one knows 
and God does not remember. 

Over against this sin we constantly hear the 
thunder of God's eternal justice. Because of 
sin the ancient world was by the flood swept clear 
of all inhabitants save one family. Because of 
sin the prosperous cities of the plain were en- 
gulfed in the Dead Sea. Because of sin anguish, 
misery, and death have followed the steps of men 
in every walk of life. Even the very sanctuary 
of God became the scene of avenging justice, 
and homes, which should have been the abodes of 
peace and joy, became like dens of demons. The 
terrible nature of sin is manifest in the awful 
thunders of Sinai, and we feel its throb of anguish 
in the denunciatory burdens of prophecy. Thus 
the fact of sin is stamped on every page of the 
Bible. As we read this truthful Book we see that 
the blight of sin hangs menacingly fearful over 
all that is fair and lovely in human life. 

2. Redemption. All Jewish life, from the days 
of Abraham to the ascension of Christ, is redo- 
lent with the hope and fact of redemption. All 
the innocent victims on Jewish altars slain point 
unmistakably to the great Sacrifice, the Lamb of 
God, for sinners slain. In the daily sacrifices in 
the temple the lesson of redemption was taught 
year after year and age after age, till the great 
work was accomplished on the cross. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 69 

3. Repentance. In the Scriptures we see re- 
pentance concreted in private lives and national 
history. In living men we see how sorrow, an- 
guish, remorse follow sin. Thus we learn what 
repentance really means. 

Jacob, in a way, was religious. He had faith 
in God. In his wonderful dream at Bethel God 
appeared and confirmed to him the covenant made 
with Abraham. But his religious life remained 
shallow. Not till his return, when he was about 
to face the brother he had wronged, did he see 
how much he lacked of being fully in accord with 
God. In that all-night wrestle in prayer with the 
Presence of God he experienced the repentance 
which broke thoroughly the fallow ground of his 
nature. He came out of that struggle a prince of 
God. 

David was a man after God's own heart; not 
that he was without fault, nor that he was a per- 
fect ruler, but because he had those qualities 
which God approves and men admire. But he 
sinned terribly, being guilty of seduction, be- 
trayal of confidence, and murder as crime fol- 
lowed crime. When the child of his guilt was 
smitten with fatal disease, the enormity of his 
sins came to him. Then came the bitter repent- 
ance. See how his soul is racked with contrition, 
remorse, and self-loathing as he lies on the 
ground for seven days in fasting and prayer, 



7° 



The Articles of Religion 



while the child's life hangs in the scale of uncer- 
tainty! Only men of great natures can repent 
after that manner. What a wonderful, Godlike 
sense of sin this repentance revealed! Out of 
the agony of repentance no doubt there came to 
him the qualities which enabled him to give to 
many of the songs of Zion a depth of tone which 
else would have been lacking. 

Away with the shallow idea that repentance is 
a mere perfunctory duty to be performed once in 
a lifetime, when we are seeking religion ! As we 
see repentance concreted in the lives of these two 
men, Jacob and David, we clearly perceive that 
it was for sins which festered in the ordinary 
religious life, where the thought of sin was too 
lightly regarded. In each case the nature was 
deepened and nobler character attained. We get 
an idea here of what true repentance means. Of 
course repentance is the first duty of a sinner 
who would turn from sin to God; but that does 
not exhaust the function of this important doc- 
trine in connection with our efforts to climb to 
the higher heights of Christian life. 

4. Faith. We see the nature and power of 
faith in the prominent characters all through the 
Book. Abraham was preeminent for the sub- 
limity of his faith. In the severest tests he stag- 
gered not through unbelief, but honored God by 
a living faith that won for him the title "Friend 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 71 

of God and Father of the Faithful." Beginning 
with Abel, Enoch, and Noah, before the flood, 
and coming down to the last of the apostles, we 
have a long list of heroes of faith whose lives 
hid with God have shown that the things invisi- 
ble are the main concerns in earthly living. Faith 
thus concreted becomes the guide and support 
of faith in us. 

5. The inner spiritual life, including regenera- 
tion and purity of life. The word "regeneration" 
does not occur in the Old Testament, and occurs 
only twice in the New. It may not in either place 
refer to the spiritual change known as the new 
birth. The Saviour gave us the best descriptive 
phrase, yewrjOrj awOev, born from above, and also 
the reason of its necessity: "That which is born 
of the flesh is flesh." If the flesh were all, that 
one birth would be sufficient. The animal needs 
only one birth. Because we are spiritual and 
have capacity for a better life, we need the birth 
from above. We need a spiritual life, a life 
coalescent with the life of God. 

Such a life we see manifested in a host too 
numerous to mention, such as Abraham, Jacob, 
Moses, David, Isaiah, the two Johns, Peter, and 
Paul. Here are men whose lives we know could 
not be the result of earthly motives. Their 
springs of action could neither originate nor ter- 
minate in mere earthly lives. We know that such 



72 



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lives could not be lived without adequate spiritual 
forces to sustain them any more than aeroplanes 
could sail the air without propelling power. 
Thus we see how clearly and fully the essential 
truths of revelation have been concreted in hu- 
man experience for our instruction and encour- 
agement. 

We see in the human life of the Son of God 
the truth not only concreted but incarnated in 
living activity in all the varying conditions of 
life. We see the eternal truth of God in human 
form, living, working, teaching, in the actual 
world of sin, sorrow, sickness, misery, and death 
— truth combating error, denouncing sin, and 
holding out the hope of eternal life to the sinner. 
Finally, we behold the Truth crucified on the 
Roman cross, but breaking the bands of death 
and coming forth to a new and glorious life, the 
antidote of sin, the Conqueror of the grave. 
And from this glorious first Christian Sabbath 
we see the Light of life radiating over all the 
world. 



ARTICLE VIII. 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

"The Old Testament is not contrary to the New; for 
both in the Old and New Testaments everlasting life is 
offered to mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator 
between God and man, being both God and man. 
Wherefore they are not to be heard who feign that 
the old fathers did look only for transitory promises. 
Although the law given from God by Moses, as toucheth 
ceremonies and rites, doth not bind Christians, nor 
ought the civil precept's thereof of necessity to be received 
in any commonwealth, yet notwithstanding no Christian 
whatsoever is free from the obedience of the com- 
mandments which are called moral." 



THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



Certainly the Old Testament is not contrary 
to the New; neither does the New depart from 
the teaching of the Old. They are companion 
parts of a whole. Neither is complete without 
the other. 

'The New was in the Old contained, 
The Old is in the New explained." 

The Old Testament without the New is an un- 
fulfilled prophecy. Without a personal Messiah, 
a suffering Redeemer, many of its plainest ut- 
terances are without meaning. Without the New 
Testament as an explanation and a fulfillment, the 
Old is an arrested development, an unfinished 
revelation, a magnificent work of divine propor- 
tions without completion. It is a promise of 
world-wide munificence broken off at the very 
point of expansion, a Godlike undertaking which 
failed at the crucial point. 

The Old Testament is like a great tree which 
blossoms into full fruition in the New Testament. 
Without the New Testament it is like a tree 
blighted in the very budding time of fruition. 
The New Testament without the Old would be 
top-heavy, a development without sufficient prep- 

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7 6 



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aration. Such a wonderful growth must have its 
roots buried deep in the soil of humanity. To- 
gether these two wonderful Testaments make the 
full revelation of divine truth. 

The completed Book is a treasury of all re- 
ligious knowledge. It is the wellspring of di- 
vine wisdom, where the hungry intellect and the 
famishing heart of the world may be fed and be 
satisfied. When rightly understood, it presents 
to the mind the concreted system of truth which 
rings clear in every part. With the intellect il- 
luminated and the heart cleansed by this truth, 
man is equipped for all of life's duties and ready 
for the untried realities beyond. It is, therefore, 
the palladium of true religion and the source of 
the world's best civilization. 



ARTICLE IX. 



DEPRAVITY. 

"Depravity, as the result of the original sin of Adam, 
is the corruption of the nature of every man that nat- 
urally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby 
man is very far gone from original righteousness, and 
of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually." 



DEPRAVITY. 



This short Article, it is believed, expresses the 
truth contained in our seventh Article and leaves 
out that which is obscure. Depravity is truly de- 
fined in the phrase, "Far gone from original 
righteousness." By original righteousness is 
meant the ability of man, in and of himself, to 
do things pleasing and acceptable to God. This 
original ability is the main deprivation sustained 
by the fall. 

Of his own nature man is inclined to evil, and 
that continually. This is a great truth, but not 
the whole truth, in regard to man's moral nature. 
Man is redeemed, and redeemed human nature 
has redeeming qualities. There is that in man 
to which an appeal for good may be made. But 
for this the gospel would be useless as a saving 
agency. According to universal experience and 
observation, man has inclinations to good as well 
as to evil. 

Manifestly our moral nature is dual. We have 
strong tendencies in opposite directions. In each 
breast there is a warfare between good and evil. 
This accords with all experience and is fully sus- 
tained by revelation. Men rarely are wholly bad 
or perfectly good. Wicked men often have noble 

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impulses; pious men frequently have shameful 
weaknesses. Inconsistent variations appear in 
most human characters. 

We need to do some thinking along here, and 
St. Paul will help us to do this. "Whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. vi. 
7.) This is the law of plant life, as true as the 
very course of nature. It is the inspired illustra- 
tion of man's moral efforts. Mark you, it is the 
man who sows. He sows by his thoughts, his 
words, his acts ; by his daily choices, his faith or 
unfaith, as manifested in daily conduct. 

Now to the specific application. "He that 
soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- 
ruption." His flesh is his own nature; it is his 
lower or evil nature. St. Paul frequently uses 
the word in this sense. He who sows to his evil 
nature shall from that source reap corruption. 
By yielding to his base desires, indulging his evil 
passions, he strengthens his evil nature. This 
apostolic teaching has the very transparency of 
truth. Evil acts always augment the evil nature. 

"He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
reap life everlasting." W e sow to the Holy Spirit 
by yielding to his influence and submitting to his- 
guidance. Pie is in our better nature, striving 
with us to secure our best interest. If we co- 
work with him, he will enthrone himself in our 
moral nature, and thus help us to gain the mas- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 81 

tery over our evil self. By his help, for he is our 
Helper, our Paraclete, we can subdue the evil in 
us, escape from the dominion and darkness of 
sin, and walk or live in the light, as he is in the 
light. God in us is the Source of good and the 
Giver of eternal life. Corruption is in us; holi- 
ness is of God, and may become ours by divine 
help. We have independent badness, but no in- 
dependent goodness. 

But we are not to infer from this that there is 
any excuse for failing to do good. The neces- 
sary divine help is always at hand. We have the 
unrestricted right of choice between good and 
evil. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." 
Without the ability to do either good or evil 
there would be no real choice. We have every 
facility for doing right, as we have for doing 
wrong. The vine might truthfully say: "I have 
no power to lift myself aloft; I am wholly de- 
pendent on the oak." But with the oak standing 
ready there is no excuse for low climbing. 

"God works in us to will and to do of his good 
pleasure." (Phil. ii. 13.) He works in us in or- 
der that we may will as he wills and do as he 
directs. With this help we are to "work out our 
own salvation with fear and trembling." This is 
a life work. St. Paul says: "I keep under my 
body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by 
any means, when I have preached to others, I 
6 



82 



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myself should be a castaway." The word "body" 
here means the same evil nature we all have to 
fight against. 

We should get a clear conception of depravity. 
Depravity does not consist in the possession of 
natural appetites and passions; but it does con- 
sist in the want of moral or spiritual power in 
and of ourselves to prevent the perversion of 
these natural faculties by sin. Man did not ac- 
quire appetite and passion by the fall. They were 
natural to him before. He was an animal before 
he became a sinner, and of course had all the ap- 
petites and passions which belong to animal na- 
ture. Every natural appetite and passion was 
then proper and useful. They are still useful 
and of themselves are without sin. Man lost the 
balance of moral power when he lost God. His 
nature was thence one-sided. The self was all 
that remained. His only inclination was to fol- 
low self. Consequently of his own nature he is 
inclined to evil, and that continually The evil 
is not in the possession but in the perversion of 
these natural qualities. This is done by actual 
sin, not by hereditary guilt. 

Let us examine the appetites and passions and 
see that they are of themselves innocent and use- 
ful: 

i. Appetite for food and drink. It is per- 
fectly manifest that man had this before sin. 



A mended, Supplemen ted, and Explained, 83 

He was permitted to eat of all the trees in the 
garden save one. Appetite is not wrong, but one 
of the great blessings of life. Its perversion leads 
to excess, gluttony, and drunkenness. 

2. Temper. This is one of the best qualities 
of our nature. It is the temper that makes the 
man; it is a Godlike quality which rings true 
in every trying emergency. Innately God-given, 
it is strengthened and perfected in the trials of 
life. Therefore the nearer to God we live, the 
finer is the grade of our temper. From this nat- 
urally spring the high qualities of fidelity, in- 
tegrity, courage — in fact, all the ingredients of 
best character. The man whose faith is firmly 
fixed in God may be trusted to stand true in the 
severest trials of earth and time. 

How abundantly this was manifested in Jesus ! 
View him from any angle, and it is the temper, 
the innate quality of the Man, you admire. He 
hated everything that was wrong and loved 
everything that was good. Consequently he hated 
sin with Godlike intensity and loved the sinner 
with sacrificial devotion. His integrity was abso- 
lutely invincible. Every one who becomes ac- 
quainted with his character knows that here was 
a Man whom no force on earth could swerve to 
the extent of a hair's breadth from the right. 
His courage was perfect. 

The men who have been most like him have 



8 4 



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shown the best quality of temper. The finished 
temper of the apostolic preachers turned the 
world upside down. Think of the temper of 
Luther, Knox, Wesley, and others like them, who 
from time to time have bent the world toward 
righteousness. 

The perversion of temper leads to envy, jeal- 
ousy, malice, hatred, revenge, and murder. Here 
is a bold fountain of evil from which a stream 
of woes has followed man through every age 
and into every clime. 

3. Physical love. This is not a heritage of 
sin. Our ritual emphasizes the fact that mar- 
riage was instituted in the time of man's inno- 
cency. When sanctified in holy wedlock, it is 
one of the most ennobling qualities of the soul. 
Matrimony is not by Protestants deemed a sacra- 
ment, but surely its influences for good are very 
nearly sacramental. It is refining, elevating, and 
ennobling. It is the bond of the home, and 
therefore the pledge of good to both Church and 
State. 

When physical love degenerates into lust, it 
is one of the basest of human passions. Here is 
another bitter fountain from which flows a stream 
of anguish, remorse, and ruin. The primrose 
path of festal dalliance leads fatally to the adder's 
den of death. 

Depravity, therefore, does not consist in the 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 85 

possession of appetites and passions. These be- 
long to us by nature; we brought them with us 
from the garden of paradise. Properly controlled 
by grace, they are the drawing cords which lead 
us up toward God and heaven. Warped and per- 
verted by sin, they become the thongs which drag 
us down to hell. 

Depravity is the loss of original righteousness^ 
the loss of our primal connection with God, the 
loss of the innate power to worship God accepta- 
bly, and to do things pleasing and agreeable to 
him. Our moral position, therefore, is that of 
utter weakness. Here is where God in the atone- 
ment comes to our rescue and makes us strong 
in Christ and conquerors through his grace. 



ARTICLE X. 



THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF INFANTS. 

"Our children, though subject to the ills of depravity, 
are nevertheless, by the merits of Christ's death and 
passion, born in a state of salvation. The effects of 
his death being coequal in time with the effects of the 
fall of Adam, the transmissible guilt of our federal head 
was met and canceled by the atoning mercy of our 
Christ. Therefore, our children purchased by his 
blood, are born justified by his grace and subjects of 
his kingdom." 



THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF INFANTS. 



The Bible teaches in regard to infants : 
i. That they are born subject to the ills in- 
cident to the universal depravity of man. "Be- 
hold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my 
mother conceive me." (Ps. li. 5.) It was surely 
not the intention of the Psalmist to impute un- 
usual sin to his parents, but only to plead the in- 
firmities incident to our common human life, the 
handicap of our native depravity. "By one man 
sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and 
so death passed upon all men, for that all have 
sinned/' (Rom. v. 12.) All sinned in Adam, 
but the guilt of sin was not transmitted to Adam's 
posterity. That was canceled by the atonement. 
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world/' (John i. 29.) Only the con- 
comitants of the sin, "the ills that flesh is heir 
to," were transmitted. "Thy first father hath 
sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against 
me." (Isa. xliii. 27.) Ah, yes, Isaiah, wise 
prophet, thou hast touched the plague spot of thy 
time and mostly of all times ! Hereditary ills and 
false teachers make a large part of the world's 
full cup of woe. But it seems unnecessary to cite 
additional texts. The whole Book is filled with 

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go The Articles of Religion 

the thought that mankind are suffering from the 
effects of depravity and the prevalence of sin. 

2. Our children are born justified. "Therefore 
as by the offense of one [Adam] judgment came 
upon all men to condemnation; even so by the 
righteousness of one [Christ] the free gift came 
upon all men unto justification of life." (Rom. 
v. 18.) The plain meaning of this text is that 
to the extent that condemnation came by the fall, 
to that same extent justification came by Christ. 
And this was for all men justification to life. 
Then our children are born justified, or innocent ; 
also they are born spiritually alive, not spiritually 
dead. 

"For as by one man's disobedience many were 
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall 
many be made righteous. " (Rom. v. 19.) Just 
as many as were made sinners by the transgres- 
sion, that same many were made righteous, or 
innocent, by the obedience of Christ. The word 
hUaios, ordinarily translated righteous, should 
in this place be rendered innocent. When the 
word refers to men capable of moral action,' it 
should be rendered righteous, indicating right 
conduct; but when it is applied to things and to 
infants, it should surely be translated innocent. 
When Judas said, "I have betrayed innocent 
blood," he used this word, and it is thus correctly 
translated. When Jesus said that the righteous 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 91 

blood of all those slain should come upon that 
generation, the sense shows that the word should 
be translated innocent. The accumulated ac- 
countability for all the innocent blood which that 
people had shed was coming on that generation. 
Both Groves and Hickie, whose lexicons were 
prepared with special reference to the New Tes- 
tament, sustain this view. 

Therefore all who are made sinners because of 
their connection with Adam are made innocent 
because of their connection with Christ. It cer- 
tainly does appear that the great theologian of 
the New Testament really believed and intended 
to teach that children in consequence of the atone- 
ment are born justified ; that they are truly inno- 
cent of any sin or guilt, inherited, imputed, or 
otherwise attaching to them. 

3. Our children are born subjects and bene- 
ficiaries of the spiritual kingdom of God. "Suf- 
fer the little children to come unto me, and forbid 
them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." 
The Great Teacher here refers not only to the 
innocence and gentleness but also to the nature of 
the child, its sinlessness and coalescence with the 
divine nature. "Of such is the kingdom." The 
kingdom is not made up of people who resemble 
these children in certain particulars, but of peo- 
ple who are one with them in spiritual qualities. 
"Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God 



9 2 



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as a little child, he shall not enter therein/' mani- 
festly as a little child receives the kingdom. 

If adults have to get in the same spiritual at- 
titude as little children in order to receive the 
kingdom, it is evident that the children, being al- 
ready in that attitude, do receive it. "Whosoever 
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, 
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." 
The complete self-abnegation of the child is the 
standard for those who become greatest in the 
kingdom. Thus children in some things become 
the measure of adult proficiency. 

St. Mark, as usual, is more graphic : "And he 
took a child, and set him in the midst of them : 
and when he had taken him in his arms, he said 
unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such 
children in my name, receiveth me: and whoso- 
ever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him 
that sent me." Thus does the Great Teacher 
identify little children with himself and with his 
kingdom. 

To contend that these little children were adults 
with childlike dispositions is too vapid for serious 
consideration. Luke says they were infants, and 
that accords wth the circumstances of the case. 

"Take heed that ye despise not one of these lit- 
tle ones ; for I say unto you, That in heaven their 
angels do always behold the face of my Father 
which is in heaven." (Matt, xviii. 10.) What- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 93 

ever else this scripture means, it certainly does 
teach that children have a warm place in the af- 
fections of Jesus and a well-assured place in his 
kingdom. Some think the reference is to the 
guardian angels. But it was their angels, some- 
thing which they themselves possessed. It is well 
known that the words "angel" and "spirit" were 
used synonymously in that age. 

To my mind it is clear that the reference is to 
their spiritual relation to God. Their spirits see 
God. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 
shall see God." The pure in heart, whether ad- 
ults or children, see, or enjoy, God, and in both 
cases for the same reason, because of their spirit- 
ual affinity with God. 

We need not infer from the words "in heaven" 
that the beholding was done in another world. 
St. Paul says: "Our conversation is in heaven." 
We know that it was also done upon earth. Peo- 
ple who live in a heaven upon earth are prepared 
to live in a heaven hereafter. 

These scriptures, we think, clearly sustain the 
first statement of the Article: "Our children, 
though subject to the ills of depravity, are, never- 
theless, by the merits of Christ's death and pas- 
sion, born in a state of salvation." 

"The effects of Christ's death are coequal in 
time with the effects of Adam's sin." The atone- 
ment was not an afterthought, but part of God's 



94 



The Articles of Religion 



original plan and provided in advance of the fall. 
Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation 
of the world." "Behold the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world/' The sin of 
the world was the first, the original sin, called 
"sin of the world" because it involved all the 
race. The guilt of this sin was canceled by the 
atonement without any intervening time. Had 
this not been done, there would have been a pos- 
sibility of souls being lost without redemption, 
and that for no fault of theirs. The intelligent 
God has always worked through an intelligible 
plan, as the following passages show : "According 
as he hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the 
foundation of the world." (Eph. i. 4.) "Ye 
were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, 
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; 
who verily was foreordained before the founda- 
tion of the world, but was manifest in these last 
days for you." (1 Pet. i. 19, 20.) 

There is no inconsistency, as some might sup- 
pose, in the statement that infants, while subject 
to the ills of depravity, are nevertheless in a state 
of salvation. That is the condition of every adult 
saint on earth. It is exactly what Paul had to 
contend with : "I keep under my body and bring 
it under subjection: lest by any means, when I 
have preached to others, I myself should be a 
castaway." 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 95 

If children are in a state of salvation and justi- 
fied, are they not also regenerated? The Bible 
is silent on this subject. Where God is silent, 
man should be slow to speak. But is it not an 
axiom of our theology that when one is justified 
he is at the same moment regenerated ? This ap- 
plies to justification by faith and refers to adults. 
It may not apply to infants, because theirs is a 
different kind of justification. Infants are justi- 
fied because of innocence; adults in the sense of 
pardon. These two meanings are recognized by 
all lexicographers, and any one can see that they 
are widely different. 

Fortunately, for the better understanding of 
this whole subject we have the spiritual history 
of some children given in the Bible. Samuel, 
Jeremiah, and John the Baptist were each con- 
secrated to God from infancy, and each lived up 
to the expectations of his early training. It is 
said of John that he was filled with the Holy 
Spirit from his birth. The same is implied in the 
history of the other two. Then there was no time 
in the lives of these persons when they were not 
acceptable to God. 

Like all other children who survive the period 
of infancy, they passed from the spiritual state 
in which they were born into a state of personal 
accountability; but in their case no part of re- 
sponsible life was given to sin. Filled with the 



96 The Articles of Religion 



Spirit from birth on through life, there was mani- 
festly no time when they were not saved. They 
passed from a state of natal salvation, of inno- 
cence and sinlessness in which they were born, 
into a state of conscious obedience, of justifica- 
tion by faith. At the instance of justifying faith 
they were born from above. Old things passed 
away, all things became new. 

John, Samuel, and Jeremiah differed from most 
children in having the best religious training ; but 
there is no evidence that they were spiritually of 
a different species. Had they lived on a plane dif- 
ferent from the rest of mankind, their example 
would have been worth nothing to the world. 
Neither would they have been suitable leaders of 
men in their generations. 

What was done in their lives can be done in 
others. It is possible for children to pass from 
the innocence of childhood to a conscious Chris- 
tian life, else there would of necessity be a period 
of sin. Surely we cannot believe that God has 
made it necessary for men to sin. 

From all this the conclusion is irresistible that 
the efforts of the Church should be unceasing to 
conserve the spiritual assets she already has in 
her little children. On a memorable occasion, 
when the Great Teacher was impressing upon 
Peter the supreme importance of his life work, his 
first command was : "Feed my lambs." Paul said 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 97 

to the elders of the Church at Ephesus : "Take 
heed to yourselves and to all the flock over which 
the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers." "Take 
heed," says the Master, "that ye despise not one 
of these little ones." Woe betide the Church 
whose pulpit becomes the rostrum of science, 
while the sheep go hungry and the lambs go 
astray ! 

7 



ARTICLE XL 



FREE WILL. 

"The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such 
that he cannot turn and prepare himself by his own 
natural strength and works to faith and calling upon 
God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, 
pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of 
God by Christ preventing [aiding] us that we may have 
a good will, and working with us when we have that 
good will." 



FREE WILL. 



This Article is a companion to the one on de- 
pravity, The two together show the twofold 
character of our moral nature, our contradictory- 
self, with tendencies to evil and tendencies to 
good. Our evil nature, called by St. Paul "the 
flesh" and "the body," and in this Article man's 
own nature, tends to evil, only evil, and that con- 
tinually. 

This accords with universal experience. There 
is not a man in all the world who does not know 
that there is a nature in him which tends to evil, 
tends to sag, to drag down, and make him worse. 

Our better nature inclines to good, manifests 
itself in impulses and longings for better things. 
The tendency is to yield to God, the Holy Spirit, 
and by his aid work for righteousness. Every 
man feels and knows that his aspirations for good 
are of a nobler kind and spring from a nobler 
source than that in him which is the source of 
evil. 

"Wherefore we have no power to do good 
works, without the grace of God by Christ pre- 
venting [aiding] us/' Our good works are done 
conjointly with God. "We are coworkers to- 
gether with God." God works in us that we may 

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102 The Articles of Religion. 

will as he wills and then do according to that 
divine will. 

Our help is in God. We are very weakness 
itself and as nothing in his hands; yet he has 
taken us into copartnership with himself and has 
endowed us with the mighty power of faith, the 
victory that overcometh the world. 

"That we may have a good will" — this is the 
main thing in the battle of life. So long as the 
will is for the right and unconquered, the conquer- 
ing power abides. Temporary defeat may seem to 
brush away every chance of success ; but the un- 
subdued will, aided by the power of faith in the 
mightier power of God, will rise above defeat as 
surely as God is on the winning side in the bat- 
tle for righteousness. 

"And working with us when we have that 
good will" — this is the way all the spiritual work 
of the world is done. Here is the philosophy of 
preaching : God working through willing men to 
accomplish the greatest good to the human race. 



ARTICLE XII. 



THE JUSTIFICATION OF MAN. 

"We are accounted righteous before God, only for 
the merit of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, and 
not for our own works or deservings; wherefore that 
we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doc- 
trine, and very full of comfort/' 



THE JUSTIFICATION OF MAN. 

The primary meaning of justification given by 
Webster is: "The act of justifying; a showing to 
be just, or conformable to law, rectitude, or pro- 
priety." It is showing that there is no guilt, no 
wrong; a vindication. Justification in this sense 
abides with innocence. In this sense all infants 
are justified. 

Whatever hereditary guilt was due to fall on 
man because of Adam's sin was met and canceled 
once for all by the merits of Christ's death. 
"Therefore as by the offense of one judgment 
came upon all men to condemnation ; even so by 
the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon 
all men unto justification of life." This is a plain 
statement of fact. First, that in consequence of 
Adam's sin condemnation came upon all men; 
and, secondly, in consequence of Christ's death, 
this condemnation was removed and the free gift 
came upon all men unto justification of life. This 
took effect simultaneously with the first sin. 

Therefore we say without a shadow of doubt 
that all infants are justified — that is, they are all 
innocent — and, as we have just seen, justifica- 
tion naturally and necessarily goes with inno- 
cence. In a secondary sense justification is 

(105) 



106 The Articles of Religion 

synonymous with pardon. It is the remission or 
forgiveness of sins. This is the justification 
spoken of in this Article. It is that which may 
be obtained by adult sinners. "Therefore being 
justified by faith we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." "By him all who believe 
are justified." "A man is not justified by the 
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus 
Christ." "Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, 
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ 
and not by the works of the law." It is unneces- 
sary to heap up texts; the entire Book is satu- 
rated with the idea of justification by faith. 

But why is faith made the condition of pardon ? 
There must be something in the nature of faith 
which renders a man a fit subject for justifica- 
tion. Consider the estimate which God puts on 
faith : "Abraham believed God, and it was counted 
to him for righteousness." This statement was 
first made in Genesis xv. 6 and is quoted several 
times by New Testament writers, showing that 
they believed it contained a great truth as to the 
nature and value of faith. 

There can be no doubt that the principle here 
revealed applies to all men; that any man exer- 
cising faith like Abraham, that faith will be 
counted to him for righteousness. But, as if to 
add certainty to security, the great apostle as- 
serts the universality of the principle thus: "It 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 107 

was not written for his sake alone, that it was 
imputed to him ; but for us also, to whom it shall 
be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up 
Jesus our Lord from the dead/' (Rom. iv. 23, 
24.) 

There is here revealed to us the great spiritual 
law that faith is imputed or counted to man for 
righteousness— that is, that faith is of the same 
value in God's estimate as righteousness, and he 
accepts it as an equivalent. Now, on what prin- 
ciple of reason and justice can this be done? 
Simply this : true faith, possible only to the man 
who is honestly seeking God, brings the mind of 
such a man to the same attitude toward God and 
right as that of a righteous man. Such a man is 
no longer in rebellion, but his will is one with the 
divine will. Such a man can be trusted with par- 
don and also with grace, for when a man's sins 
are forgiven he is at the same time born from 
above. 

Any executive would be justified in pardoning 
a convict if he could know that the convict was 
no longer criminal, but that his attitude toward 
the law and society had been so changed that 
henceforth he would be a safe and useful citizen. 
The principle is safe and sane; therefore God 
acts upon it. 

What is the character of that faith which God 
can accept in lieu of righteousness? It must be 



io8 The Articles of Religion. 



such as to change man's attitude from rebellion 
or indifference to that of acquiescence and trust. 
To reach this faith repentance performs an im- 
portant function. 

Repentance is faith in the making, faith in the 
struggle for self-renunciation and distrust of 
every phase of self-righteousness until it results 
in the blessed peace of full and filial trust in God. 
Such faith puts man into the providence of God, 
where he can do the best work of his life. 

Men were building a railroad bridge across a 
river. The iron beams which were to support the 
heavy trains were necessarily large. One beam 
refused to go into its place; it was a fraction 
of an inch too long. That is like the man whose 
faith is incomplete; he refuses to get into his 
place. What is to be done ? The beam must be 
made shorter. So it was covered from end to 
end with ice. That ice is repentance. It is slow- 
ly but surely doing its work. The beam is chilled 
and dropped into its place. Repentance has done 
its work ; faith is complete ; the beam is ready for 
service. So when man fits into his place, where 
God can trust him with the riches of grace, he 
becomes a new man in Christ and is ready for 
service. 



ARTICLE XIII. 



REGENERATION, OR THE NEW BIRTH. 

"Regeneration, or the New Birth, is the spiritual 
change, wrought by the Holy Spirit, in man's moral 
nature; whereby the man becomes a child of God." 



REGENERATION, OR THE NEW BIRTH. 

We cannot overestimate the importance of this 
doctrine. The new birth is the beginning of 
spiritual life by faith. We become the children 
of God by faith, a part of the household of the 
great Father, "of whom the whole family in 
heaven and earth is named/' and heirs to the 
riches of grace which the eternal years shall un- 
fold. 

One of the clearest declarations on this subject 
occurs in the conversation which Jesus had with 
Nicodemus, recorded in John iii. 1-7: "Except a 
man be born from above, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God." This abrupt homily seems to have 
cut short any further compliments by this ruler 
of the Jews. Jesus saw at once that this man's 
conception of the spiritual life was altogether 
wrong, so he went directly to what was needed. 
In further explanation he added : "Except a man 
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God." Life in the 
kingdom of God is of supreme importance. This 
emphasizes the great necessity of a spiritual birth. 
Hence the final dictum rings out with startling 
clearness : "Ye must be born from above." 

Why water was connected with the spiritual 

(no 



112 



The Articles of Religion 



birth is difficult to see. But just at that time bap- 
tism was on the wave of popular thought. From 
time immemorial proselytes to the Jewish faith 
had been initiated by baptism. The Pharisees and 
their numerous adherents had carried ablutions 
to a ridiculous extent, always refusing to eat till 
they had scrubbed to the elbow. And when they 
returned from the market or other business 
places, they must wash to prevent defilement. 
They even went to the extent of sprinkling their 
cooking utensils and household furniture. 

And besides all this, John the Baptist had just 
then stirred the nation to its center by preaching 
in the wilderness the baptism of repentance. All 
Jerusalem and Judea had gone out to see this 
strange prophet, and many, even the great ma- 
jority, had submitted to his ordinance. Thus bap- 
tism was for the hour the prominent and popular 
thing. And always in the best grade of Jewish 
thought water baptism was the emblem of purity, 
the symbol of an inward spiritual baptism, cleans- 
ing the soul of impurity as water cleanses the 
body. No doubt Jesus perceived that, owing to 
all these conditions, Nicodemus could get a 
clearer idea of this birth from above by coupling 
it with its symbolic representative, water baptism. 

Some, basing their arguments mainly on this 
passage, have magnified the importance of water 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 1 13 

baptism beyond all reason, making it about equal 
with the baptism of the Spirit. 

When John's ministry closed and Jesus went 
north, confining his teaching mainly to Galilee 
and adjacent territory, there is not another word 
about baptism. During all the years of the 
Saviour's ministry, after John's imprisonment, if 
there was even one person baptized there is no 
record of it. Baptism dropped out of view even 
more suddenly than it had before risen to promi- 
nence. Of course if baptism had been necessary 
to salvation Jesus would have been preaching it 
all those years. 

A very clear statement of the doctrine is given 
in John i. 11-13: "He came unto his own, and 
his own received him not [he did not measure up, 
or rather down, to their traditions]. But as 
many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that be- 
lieve on his name : which were born, not of blood 
[not by heredity], nor of the will of the flesh 
[not by fatiguing pilgrimages or bodily lacera- 
tions], nor of the will of man [not even by the 
higher efforts of self-righteousness], but of God." 
They are sons of God, the aristocracy of un- 
worldliness, from whose ranks heaven gains in- 
creasing population. 

St. Paul teaches this same great truth in dif- 
ferent phraseology: "We are his workmanship, 
8 



H4 



The Articles of Religion 



created in Christ Jesus unto good works." (Eph. 
ii. io.) "If any man be in Christ, he is a new- 
creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all 
things are become new." (2 Cor. v. 17.) 

Thus the change in our spiritual nature 
wrought by the Holy Spirit not only changes our 
relation to God but also to everything else. All 
things become new to us because of the new life 
in us. Every fiber of our being is quickened by 
new responsibilities and new opportunities. 

This leads naturally to the thought that, im- 
portant as this vital change is, the emphasis 
should be laid on the life flowing from the birth 
rather than on the birth itself. The birth amounts 
to nothing unless the life is maintained. The best 
evidence of birth is the life Ave now have. 

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit 
sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot 
sin, because he is born of God." (1 John iii. 9.) 
The spiritual condition, the life, rather than a 
specific experience, is here in mind. The impor- 
tant thing is not a memory, but a life full of health 
and vigor; not what took place long ago, but 
what now prevails. "'His seed remaineth in him: 
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." 
The spiritual life is so abounding that sin is re- 
pugnant, hateful, and cannot find lodgment in 
the thought. While he thus maintains purity of 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 1 15 

thought by spiritual supremacy he is immune 
from sin. 

Occasionally we see a man of such robust 
health that he passes unharmed through prevail- 
ing epidemics. Germs by the million enter into 
his body, only to be overcome by his superior 
vitality. So should a Christian live in spiritual 
health, with vitality complete at every point, to 
resist every approach of evil. 

All Christians have not the same experience 
in regard to this spiritual change. With some the 
experience is very vivid ; they know the very time 
and place of their conversion. Others have no 
such remembrance. These need not be discour- 
aged. If they are now alive in Christ, they need 
not worry about their spiritual birth any more 
than about their natural birth. 



ARTICLE XIV. 



WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 

"The witness of the Spirit is the divine assurance 
of our acceptance with God, imparted to our conscious- 
ness by the Holy Spirit." 



WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



There can be no reasonable doubt as to the 
ability of the Holy Spirit to communicate knowl- 
edge to man's consciousness without the medium 
of language, and, having the power, there can be 
no reasonable doubt that he uses that power for 
our good. 

This is implied in many passages such as these : 
"It is God which worketh in you both to will and 
to do of his good pleasure." "I also labor, striv- 
ing according to his working which worketh in 
me mightily." "Make you perfect in every good 
work, to do his will, working in you that which 
is well-pleasing in his sight." 

It is implied also in the very nature of inspira- 
tion, which is an inbreathing of the Holy Spirit 
on the human mind, uplifting and quickening all 
the mental faculties, with a healthful glow of all 
the better emotions of the soul. 

It is by the Holy Spirit working in us that the 
soul receives a sense of sweet communion, a 
blessed peace and restful assurance; the soul be- 
comes satisfied, assured of its acceptance with 
God. Such state of mind is the preacher's maga- 
zine of power as he proclaims the convicting 
truth ; it is also the layman's strength as he fights 
in the ranks for God and right. 

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120 



The Articles of Religion 



This same inbreathing of the Holy Spirit was 
the source of the prophetic gift in the olden time. 
The mind of the prophet was so uplifted and so 
coalescent with the divine mind that it touched 
the divine prescience, and thus secured a knowl- 
edge of future events, often dim perceptions 
shrouded in mystery, frequently not understood 
fully by the prophet himself, but sufficiently plain 
to be understood when the fulfillment came. 

This communion of God with the human spirit 
is world-wide, coextensive, in fact, with the hu- 
man race. The revelation of divine truth given to 
the world through a long line of pious men from 
the earliest times to the last of the apostles was 
but an incident of this age-long communion of 
God with man. Aside from the men by whom 
the Bible was written, this communion is not for 
revealing new truth ; it is for the conviction, con- 
version, and sanctification of men; for the com- 
forting or reproving, as need may be, of people in 
all lands and all ages. 

Without this communion we could not in any 
true sense know God. And to know him is the 
very essence of spiritual and eternal life. "And 
this is life eternal, that they might know thee the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast 
sent." (John xvii. 3.) 

Without the touch divine in the human soul 
we could never have assurance that our prayers 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 121 

are answered. In fact, with God entirely cut 
off there could be no true prayer. Is it not true 
that often our prayers begin with God? Surely 
we must believe that God frequently inspires the 
prayers he delights to answer. 

Religious worship throughout the world has 
for its basis the belief, as universal as man, that 
somehow we are in touch with the divine Nature. 

But for us this question of the witness of the 
Spirit is settled by the plain teaching of the Bible. 
"The Spirit himself beareth witness with our 
spirit, that we are the children of God." (Rom. 
viii. 16.) This surely is evidence that true Chris- 
tians have in themselves the evidence of their 
filial relation to God. The word translated "wit- 
ness" has in this place a prepositional prefix which 
suggests a joint testimony. The Spirit himself, 
together with our spirits, beareth witness, of 
course to our consciousness, that we are the chil- 
dren of God. 

This agrees perfectly with 1 John v. 10: "He 
that believeth on the Son of God hath the wit- 
ness in himself." "Because ye are sons, God hath 
sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
crying, Abba, Father." (Rom. viii. 15.) God 
sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts, making 
known to us beyond a doubt that we are his chil- 
dren, and our glad hearts respond, crying, 
"Father, Father." 



ARTICLE XV. 

CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

"Christian Perfection, or Sanctification, is the ma- 
turity of Christian experience by divine grace, whereby 
we are able to love God with all our capacities, and to 
love our fellow man so as to allow him perfect equality 
of rights with ourselves, so that we will gladly do for 
him all that we desire that he in like conditions should 
do for us." 



CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 

Naturally we look to the Great Teacher for 
the standard of excellence in Christian life most 
acceptable to him. It is interesting to note that 
he places the standard just where the wisdom of 
the world places the standard of excellence in 
every department of human effort — at the end of 
human capacity. Anything is perfect after its 
kind when it has received the full measure of 
human effort. Take a poem (it may be but a 
short lyric), look at it from every angle; you 
find it is complete, a finished product. Nothing 
can be added to enhance its excellence. Nothing 
can be taken from it without marring its beauty. 
So with a piece of statuary or any other example 
of perfected human effort. Of course absolute 
perfection is not to be expected. That does not 
come within the range of human effort. God 
alone has that supreme excellence. Our good- 
ness, our purity, our greatness is essentially rela- 
tive. 

Jesus has himself pointed out the proper at- 
tainment for each of his followers: "Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with 
all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 

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126 



The Articles of Religion 



The second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself." (Mark xii. 30, 31.) 

Love, as every one knows, is the highest, purest, 
and most unselfish function of our nature. It is 
the very essential condition of spiritual life. 
Christian perfection is, therefore, the perfection 
of love in us. Our supreme love is due to God. 
When we love him with the full measure of our 
faculties, we are sure to love our fellow man so 
as to do for him what we desire he should do for 
us were our relations exchanged, he in our place, 
we in his. In this we reach the limit of our en- 
deavor. This is Christian perfection. 

Of course as our faculties continue to grow, 
our capacity to love will increase and there will 
be an advance in the maturity of our love. Thus 
Christian perfection, being necessarily a personal 
quality depending on the capacity of each person, 
must vary in grade with each individual. 

Then let us consider the standard of efficiency 
which determines or defines sanctification for 
each Christian: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart [with all thy tender senti- 
mental affection and emotional nature], and with 
all thy soul [with all the deeper feelings of devo- 
tion, the loyal aspirations of sincere worship, and 
the longing after communion with God, the thirst 
for immortal life with which the Lord thy God 
hath endowed thee], and with all thy mind [with 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 127 

all thy intellectual powers. If you have imagina- 
tion, genius, the high gift of reason, a fair use of 
language, the noble endowment of education — 
whatever the gift, let all be devoted to the serv- 
ice and sincere worship of God] , and with all thy 
strength." This certainly includes our physical 
ability. We may have only the strength of mus- 
cle and physical endurance of humble toil, but 
even in servile labors we may render acceptable 
service to God. 

"If done to obey thy laws, 
Even servile labors shine; 
Hallowed is toil, if this the cause, 
The meanest work divine." 

This is also a saving clause. The et cetera to 
make sure that none of our resources are left 
out of God's service, and not the powers singly, 
but combined and unified make the full measure 
of strength for God and right. With some the 
main resource for good is the possession of 
wealth, with others the ability to make money. 
Some have the fine gift of song, others the power 
of speech. All can do something. Whatever the 
resources, let all be combined to love God. 

"And thy neighbor as thyself." Than these 
two laws there can be nothing higher. "On these 
two commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets." These laws can never be repealed, 
can never be superseded by any better ; they are 



128 The Articles of Religion 



perfect for earth, heaven, or any world. With 
God these laws are innate ; for man they are su- 
preme. To obey them is Christian perfection. 

But can this be done? Certainly. God never 
requires an impossibility ; he does require our best. 
We give only a few passages of Scripture, of the 
many which might be cited, to show how fully 
this doctrine is taught in the Book. "And the 
very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I 
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." (i Thess. v. 23.) This text is 
very comprehensive. It insists that the whole 
man be kept blameless, sanctified, set apart to the 
service of God. This is in exact accord with the 
teaching of Jesus in regard to the two great com- 
mandments. 

"For both he that sanctifieth and they who are 
sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is 
not ashamed to call them brethren." (Heb. ii. 
11.) The S'anctifier and the sanctified, the Sav- 
iour and the saved, are all of one nature, all of one 
great spiritual family. "If any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." To have the 
Spirit of Christ is the supreme end to be attained. 
Then we shall be like him and strive to do his 
will. 

"According as he hath chosen us in him before 
the foundation of the world, that we should be 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 129 

holy and without blame before him in love.'' 
(Eph. i. 4.) We learn from this scripture that 
God, even before the world had a beginning, 
planned to create or evolve out of human lives a 
type of character well-pleasing to himself, beings 
"holy and without blame before him in love." 
All scripture looks to the production of just this 
type of man. Let us all strive to reach that 
standard. Jesus has taught us plainly how this is 
to be accomplished. If we live up to that stand- 
ard, we will surely be among the elect of God. 

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father 
in heaven is perfect." (Matt. v. 48.) The word 
riXeioi (teleioi), here rendered perfect, means fin- 
ished or completed; it indicates that there 
should be nothing lacking in our spiritual life, 
no glaring defect in our character. We should be 
complete in our sphere, as God is complete in his 
sphere. 

9 



ARTICLE XVI. 



THE ENTIRE EFFICIENCY OF 
CHRISTIANITY. 

^Christianity contains all the truth necessary not 
only for man's salvation and the right conduct of his 
life; but also for the solution of all problems, domestic, 
social, civic, national, and international. It contains 
all the principles which, rightly understood, honestly 
accepted, and made the invariable rule of action and of 
judgment, will lead to the highest and purest civiliza- 
tion of which the human race is capable." 



/ 



THE ENTIRE EFFICIENCY OF 
CHRISTIANITY. 

This is the belief of the great majority of 
Christians. It is an inspiring faith, noble, up- 
lifting, and purifying. Then why not put it in 
our Church creed and preach it from every pul- 
pit in our Zion? The teachings of Jesus stand 
for the right, happiness, and greatest good of 
universal man. 

There is not a conflict between man and man 
or between different classes of men or between 
nations which w r ould not at once disappear if all 
parties to the contest would honestly apply the 
principles taught by the Teacher of Galilee. Like- 
wise all domestic infelicities, all strained relations 
between husbands and wives or between parents 
and children, would melt like snow in summer in 
the warm atmosphere of the Sermon on the 
Mount. 

The Sermon on the Mount is the antidote to 
divorce scandals. A sincere regard for each 
other's rights, a sympathetic appreciation each 
of the other's position, a disposition to see things, 
not through the eye of selfishness, but with the 
eyes of justice and love — this is the solvent in 
which divorce suits would melt in the brewing. 

(133) 



134 



The Articles of Religion 



A considerate exercise of forbearance and com- 
mon sense is very apt to result in harmony. 

The principles taught by Christ furnish the 
normal basis of agreement between capital and 
labor. Let men of wealth study with a mind 
open to fairness the rights, happiness, and gen- 
eral welfare of their employees. Likewise let the 
men of toil consider the rights of capital and what 
they themselves would desire were they the capi- 
talists. 

"As ye would that men should do unto you, do 
ye also to them likewise." This is indeed the 
Golden Rule. It is the rule above all price. It is 
the vital law of harmony in human society. But 
you say it is not practicable. Indeed, it is gen- 
uinely practicable. It is the most universally ap- 
plicable law ever given for our guidance. It fits 
every condition. It is the only rule of social life 
invariably and permanently effective. All laws 
based upon selfishness and appealing only to self- 
ish instinct are makeshifts. 

This law appeals to that which is best and 
noblest in man. It cannot be observed from low 
and impure motives. Laws which appeal to self- 
interest may be kept from selfish and impure 
motives, but obedience to this law is impossible 
except from the best of motives. Get in accord 
with God, and obedience to this law becomes 
spontaneous, free, and joyous. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 135 

The teachings of Jesus look to the renovation 
of all society by putting each man in right rela- 
tion to every other man. These principles apply 
with equal aptness to every age and nation. 
They were intended for all the world. The great 
commission rings with a conquering note: "All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations [make dis- 
ciples, or Christians, of all nations], . . . teach- 
ing them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 
18-20.) 

This is the command of a Conqueror to a con- 
quering host. It means nothing less than the 
Christianization of all the world, not in name 
only, but in that high type of civilization which 
must flow from the teaching of Jesus. This 
spreading of true religion throughout all nations 
was foretold by the prophets. It was also fore- 
shadowed by Christ in his matchless parables and 
plain declarations : "And I, if I be lifted up from 
the earth, will draw all men unto me." (John 
xii. 32.) Here, then, is the law of spiritual at- 
traction which operates to bring all men into har- 
mony with God. 

In his prayer of consecration, recorded in the 
seventeenth chapter of the Gospel by St. John, 
Jesus begins with his relation to the Father, then 



136 The Articles of Religion 



passes to his immediate disciples, praying earnest- 
ly for their spiritual unity with himself and the 
Father. The petition then rises to all who shall 
believe on him through their word. Evidently 
this prayer includes their successors in preaching 
the gospel, for soon he reaches the vision of 
world-wide influence: "That the world may be- 
lieve that thou hast sent me." 

It is a wonderful consummation for the world 
to reach a belief in the divine mission of Jesus, 
but this, though great, is not the best. "I in 
them," meaning all disciples, "and thou in me, 
that they may be made perfect in one." The word 
here rendered perfect means finished, finished in 
one, the completed work of mediatorial grace. 

Then follows the petition which rings with a 
final note of triumph : "That the world may know 
that thou didst send me, and that thou lovest 
them as thou lovest me." Who are included as 
the objects of God's love in the phrase, "thou 
lovest them"? Evidently the disciples and all 
who are one with them. Is the world included? 
Is the world ultimately to reach the high profi- 
ciency in the knowledge of God so as to be in- 
cluded among the saved, the objects of God's spe- 
cial love? 

The Old Testament has foregleams of the 
spread of true religion among all nations. The 
prophets rose to their highest dignity when they 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 137 

caught visions of the world-wide, mastering 
power of their truth. "All the ends of the world 
shall remember and turn to the Lord : and all the 
kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. 
For the kingdom is the Lord's: and he is the 
governor among the nations." (Ps. xxii. 27, 28.) 
"I shall give thee the heathen for thine inher- 
itance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession." (Ps. ii. 8.) "I will also give 
thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest 
be my salvation to the end of the earth." (Isa. 
xlix. 6.) 

Christ the Messiah meets this most important 
expectation of the Old Testament scriptures. He 
embodies in himself the highest intent and 
prophecy of the Old Testament. The best the 
prophets ever saw was more than fulfilled in 
him. It is plain that no other kind of Messiah 
could have done this. He was rejected in his 
own age because of his lowly condition and the 
spiritual interpretation of his mission. It is plain 
from the view of the twentieth century that this 
conquering truth, so perfectly adapted to the bet- 
terment of all men, could not have been so effi- 
ciently presented in any other way. 

This truth shines in the parables: the wheat 
and the tares grow together until the harvest. 
Growth and maturity pertain to both good and 
evil. The harvest is the end of the world; the 



138 The Articles of Religion, 

reapers are the angels. The parables are of 
world-wide significance. The mustard seed is the 
least of seeds, yet from it springs a plant which is 
the greatest among herbs. The truth is expan- 
sive, whether in the man or among the world of 
men. 

The expanding power of the truth is most 
plainly illustrated by the parable of the leaven: 
"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which 
a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, 
till the whole was leavened." The truth lodged 
in the mind works its way to permanent convic- 
tion: lodged in the world, it permeates all so- 
ciety, working for universal peace and good will 
among men. 

It is pitiable to see large groups of men making 
frantic experiments with wild theories of social- 
ism, new thought, or higher law to right the ills 
of this twentieth century and neglecting, if not 
denouncing, the only Teacher who, nearly two 
thousand years ago, gave to men the real practi- 
cal solution of all social ills. There is not a 
wrong social condition in all the world which may 
not be righted by the principles taught by Jesus. 



ARTICLE XVII. 



GOOD WORKS. 

"Although good works, which are the fruits of faith, 
and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, 
and endure the severity of God's judgment; yet are they 
pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and spring 
out of a true and lively faith, insomuch that by them a 
lively faith may be as evidently known as a .tree is 
known by its fruits." 



GOOD WORKS. 

Good works are the results of faith. True 
faith in God will surely prompt us to try to please 
God by acts of worship and in kind deeds to men. 
Every Christian should train himself in the di- 
vine art of doing good. Study how to speak the 
apt words and to do the fitting deeds, that people 
may be made wiser and better. Try to make life 
useful by luring your associates to purer thoughts 
and nobler living. 

"Good works cannot put away our sins, and 
endure the severity of God's judgment." They 
have no atoning merit; they cannot be a substi- 
tute for Christ. "For other foundation can no 
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, 
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every 
man's work shall be made manifest : for the day 
shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by 
fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of 
what sort it is. If any man's work abide which 
he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a re- 
ward. If any man's work shall be burned, he 
shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; 
yet so as by fire." (i Cor. iii. 11-15.) 

We cannot make the foundation; God made 

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142 The Articles of Religion 

that. But we can build thereon. Good works 
are the material out of which on this foundation 
we build character for time and eternity. Good 
works naturally spring from faith in Christ, and 
when guided by consecrated wisdom count for 
much in this life ; and for those who are faithful 
unto death they will not fail of reward in the life 
to come. This seems clearly to be the teaching 
of this text. 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and 
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not 
of works, lest any man should boast. For we are 
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto 
good works, which God hath before ordained that 
we should walk in them." (Eph. ii. 8-IO.) In 
this scripture we are plainly taught that we are 
saved by grace, and that this grace or saving 
force comes to us through our faith as a condi- 
tion ; and to be more explicit the apostle adds : 
"Not of works, lest any man should boast." By 
works here the sacred writer evidently means 
such works as we might attempt to do in order to 
save ourselves independently of Christ, and conse- 
quently be able to boast of our independence and 
our proficiency. All such works of self-right- 
eousness are as filthy rags, good for nothing. 

But, mark you, we are created in Christ Jesus 
"unto good works" ; we are graduated by God's 
grace, his saving mercy, for this very purpose of 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 143 

good works. "God hath before ordained [or 
prepared] that we should walk [or live] in 
them." It is according to God's will, the order 
of his providence, that we live in good works. 

These good works are the basis of our final re- 
ward; not the basis of salvation, but of reward, 
"The Son of man shall come in the glory of his 
Father, with his angels, and then shall he reward 
every man according to his works." (Matt, xvi, 
27.) These are the words of the very Christ. 
"Thou [the Lord] renderest to every man ac- 
cording to his work." (Ps. lxii. 12.) "I the 
Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to 
give to every man according to his ways, and ac- 
cording to the fruit of his doings." (Jer. xvii. 
10.) "For we must all appear before the judg- 
ment seat of Christ; that every one may receive 
the things done in his body, according to that 
he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (2 
Cor. v. 10.) 

In the account of the final judgment, given by 
Jesus himself, the destinies of men turn on what 
they have done or failed to do. "I was hungry, 
and ye fed me," or "hungry, and ye fed me not." 
As if Jesus should say to each one of us : "I was 
in distress, and ye ministered to me, or failed to 
do so. The poor and distressed of earth are one 
with me in appeals to you. What you have done 
for these constitutes your treatment of me." We 



144 



The Articles of Religion 



owe a life service of gratitude to God, and lie has 
stipulated that the obligation be discharged by 
doing good to men. 

Here, then, is the whole question of works. St. 
Paul, the great theologian, fought vigorously 
against works on the one hand and, on the other 
hand, as vigorously insisted on good works as 
acceptable service to God. He was not incon- 
sistent. Pharisaic works intended to purchase 
heaven, aside from Christ, are the vainest of all 
vain things. This is the doctrine Paul fought 
against. But good works done to glorify God in 
Christ are most acceptable to Heaven. This is 
the doctrine Paul fought for. 

This view reconciles Paul not only with him- 
self, but also with the teachings of St. James: 
"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith 
without works is dead?" (Jas. ii. 20.) This is 
a cardinal point with St. James. He is sure that 
a living faith will show itself by works "Was 
not Abraham, our father, justified by works when 
he had offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 
Thou seest that faith wrought with his works." 
That is the way a living faith always does. "And 
by works faith was made perfect." Certainly; 
that is the natural result. 

The word "justification" is used with two very 
different meanings in Scripture. When it is said 
that we are justified by faith, then the word is 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 145 

used in the sense of pardon, our sins are forgiven. 
The original and stricter meaning is, "to show 
one to be innocent." When Abraham offered 
Isaac at the command of God, he showed himself 
to be innocent of the sin of disobedience. In this 
sense he was justified by works. 

Now, the final conclusion is that, according to 
the teachings of the Book, there is no atoning 
merit in works of any kind, but that works done in 
obedience to God's will have rewardable merit. 
It depends altogether where the works are put 
and the motive with which they are done. When 
we undertake to do God's part of the work of 
salvation, we are far astray. When we accept 
God's plan and become coworkers with him and 
do the works he has commanded with the intent 
to glorify him, then we are laying up treasures 
in heaven. 
10 



ARTICLE XVIII. 



WORKS OF SUPEREROGATION. 

"Voluntary works, besides, over and above God's 
commandments, which they call works of supereroga- 
tion, cannot be taught without arrogance and impiety. 
For by them men do declare, That they do not only 
render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but 
that they do more for his sake than of bounden duty 
is required: whereas Christ saith plainly, When ye have 
done all that is commanded you, say, We are unprofit- 
able servants." 



WORKS OF SUPEREROGATION. 



This Article carries with it the Scriptural ref- 
utation of the error denounced. The quotation is 
found in Luke xvii. 10: "When ye shall have done 
all those things which are commanded you, say, 
We are unprofitable servants ; we have done that 
which was our duty to do." This clearly shows 
that there is nothing profitable which can be done 
beyond those things which are commanded. Duty 
covers the whole ground of man's capability. 

The great commandment which we considered 
under a previous Article plainly shows this. We 
are to love God with all the heart, all the soul, 
all the mind, all the strength. Included in this 
is the second commandment: "Thou shalt love 
thy neighbor as thyself." This surely covers all 
the ground. There is no heart, no soul, no mind, 
no strength left for anything else. 



ARTICLE XIX. 



SIN AFTER JUSTIFICATION. 

"Not every sin, willingly committed after justifica- 
tion, is the sin against the Holy Spirit, and unpardon- 
able. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be 
denied to such as fall into sin after justification: after 
we have received the Holy Spirit, we may depart from 
the grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of 
God rise again, and amend our lives. And therefore 
they are to be condemned who say they can no more 
sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of 
forgiveness to such as truly repent." 



SIN AFTER JUSTIFICATION. 

The doctrine set forth in this Article is two- 
fold: the possibility of falling into sin after jus- 
tification, so that we are no longer in a saved con- 
dition, and the chance of repentance and forgive- 
ness if we do so fall. Two errors also are com- 
bated — to wit: Any sin committed after justifica- 
tion is the sin against the Holy Spirit, and that 
after we have been justified we can no more sin 
as long as we live here. 

The possibility and even danger of falling away 
from the grace given in regeneration so as to 
be lost is clearly taught in the Bible. St. Paul 
says: "I keep under my body and bring it into 
subjection, lest by any means, after I have 
preached the gospel to others, I myself should be 
a castaway/' (i Cor. ix. 27.) The evident 
meaning is that this great preacher realized 
that unless he was very watchful there was dan- 
ger that he, even after persuading others to seek 
salvation, might be finally lost. Taken at its face 
value, this scripture means nothing less than this. 
In this connection he gives this general warn- 
ing : "Wherefore, let him that thinketh he stand- 
eth take heed lest he fall." Such warning befits 
well the weakness of human nature. 

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154 The Articles of Religion 

"When the righteous turneth away from 
his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and 
doeth according to all the abominations that the 
wicked man doeth, shall he live?" (Ezek. xviii. 
24.) This is precisely the question. Those who 
teach "once in grace, always in grace," tell us 
that, no matter how far a man goes astray, if he 
has, been truly born of the Spirit, the providence 
of God will somehow bring him back and he shall 
finally be saved. 

Now, there is not only no warrant of Scripture 
for this, but the Book is plainly against it. The 
man in question was righteous, according to God's 
standard of righteousness. Evidently had he 
continued in his righteousness he would have been 
saved. He turned from his fidelity to God and 
became a sinner, does according to all the abomi- 
nations which the wicked man does. Shall he 
live? What is the surety of final salvation? 
Here is God's answer : "All his righteousness that 
he hath done shall not be remembered; in his 
trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin 
that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." The 
teaching of this entire chapter (the eighteenth of 
Ezekiel) impresses the fact of man's personal re- 
sponsibility to God. Each man is free to act for 
himself, and the consequences of his acts he must 
surely bear. The wicked, turning from his 
wickedness, shall live; the righteous, turning 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 155 

from his righteousness, shall die. Note the 
twenty-sixth verse : "When a righteous man turn- 
eth away from his righteousness, and committeth 
iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that 
he hath done shall he die." Words could not be 
plainer. If he dies in his sins, for these sins he 
shall die. Here is a death after the natural death, 
a death more than that of the body — a death of 
the soul. 

'The righteousness of the righteous shall not 
deliver him in the day of his transgression; as 
for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall 
thereby in the day that he turneth from his 
wickedness ; neither shall the righteous be able to 
live for his righteousness in the day that he sin- 
neth." (Ezek. xxxiii. 12.) The language could 
not be more explicit. Just as a sinner may turn 
from his sins and be saved, so a saint may turn 
from his righteousness and be lost. 

But hear what God says in the next verse: 
"When I shall say to the righteous that he shall 
surely live ; if he trust to his own righteousness, 
and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall 
not be remembered: but for his iniquity he hath 
committed, he shall die for it." All the assur- 
ances of eternal life are conditional ; they depend 
on our faithfulness. "Be thou faithul unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life." The fight 



156 The Articles of Religion 



must continue till death. There is no place for 
the stacking of arms this side the grave. 

"Ne'er think the victory won, 

Nor lay thine armor down; 
The work of faith will not be done 
Till thou obtain the crown." 

"Again, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt 
surely die, if he turn from his sin, and do that 
which is lawful and right, ... he shall surely 
live, he shall not die." Likewise: "When the 
righteous turneth from his righteousness, and 
committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby." 
From all this scripture it is clear that a righteous 
man is just as free to go into sin and be lost as 
a sinner is free to turn from his sin and be saved. 

There is no necessity for a Christian to sin, but 
if he does sin the way of repentance is open to 
him. "These things I write unto you, that ye sin 
not." (1 John ii. I.) The ideal Christian life is 
"that ye sin not." Sin is here used in the appro- 
priate sense of the violation of law — "sin is the 
transgression of the law" — and not in reference 
to the minor faults and foibles which are incident 
to all human life. There is no necessity for any 
man to violate any of God's commandments. 

"But if any man sin, we have an Advocate with 
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." The 
word irapaKXr]To<5 (parakletos) , the Paraclete, here 
rendered Advocate, is elsewhere translated Com- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 157 

forter. It means literally "one called to the side 
for help." Jesus is our Helper, our Friend in 
trouble. There is no greater trouble than that 
of falling into sin. In such case Jesus is the only 
real Helper ; he whom we sin against is our sin- 
cerest sympathizer and our only rescuer. He 
loves the sinner, while he hates the sin. 

Our only security against falling into sin is the 
conscious enjoyment continually of God's pres- 
ence. "Whosoever is born of God doth not com- 
mit sin, for his seed remaineth in him and he can- 
not sin, because he is born of God." This ex- 
presses a state or condition rather than a single 
experience. The word sperma, correctly trans- 
lated "seed," denotes also offspring, or posterity, 
the young life coming up. Here it seems to mean 
the new life constantly springing up and giving 
such spiritual health to the soul that sin has 'no 
chance to enter, just as a man may have such 
vigorous health of body that he passes unharmed 
where others fall a prey to contagion. 

"God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be 
tempted above that ye are able ; but will with the 
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye 
may be able to bear it." (1 Cor. x. 13.) There 
is, therefore, no real excuse for any man who falls 
into sin. Neither is there ground for presump- 
tion that God will hold any man back from going 
any length into sin he is willing, determined to 



158 The Articles of Religion 

go. The divine government proceeds on the 
principle, "equal rights to all and special privi- 
leges to none." 

Our surety is in God. Only as we by faith 
draw strength from him does our integrity be- 
come invincible. "Who can separate us from the 
love of God ?" No external force can do it. "For 
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor 
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us 
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus 
our Lord." (Rom. viii. 38, 39.) Where, then, 
is our danger? In ourselves. Evidently the 
apostle had in mind our ability to stand by faith 
in the power of God. 

When we speak of God's power to keep the 
weakest of his children, language cannot be too 
strong. God puts us in the impregnable citadel 
of life; aye, 'we may lock ourselves in, but the 
key remains on the inside and we are still free 
agents. We are still in the world and may listen 
to the siren voice of sinful pleasure. The imagi- 
nation is captured by the plausible conceptions of 
lust, and the tempted soul leaves its stronghold 
and falls a victim to sin. 

"I know whom I have believed [trusted], and 
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which 
I have committed unto him against that day." 



Amended, Supplemented, and Ex planted . 159 

(2 Tim. i. 12.) Christ is able to keep us as long 
as we commit ourselves to him. 

The second phase of the doctrine taught in the 
Article is that, having fallen into sin and for- 
feited our birthright as Christians, we may, nev- 
ertheless, by repentance and faith come back and 
again become the sons of God. The passage 
which seems to contradict this view is Hebrews 
vi. 4-6 : "For it is impossible for those who were 
once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 
and have tasted of the good word of God, and the 
powers of the world to come, if they shall fall 
away, to renew them again unto repentance ; see- 
ing they crucify to themselves the Son of God 
afresh, and put him to an open shame." Possibly 
this is a case similar to the camel and the eye of 
the needle. Impossible from the human view- 
point, but not impossible with God. And possibly 
this is not applicable in the case of ordinary back- 
sliding. 

This epistle was to the Hebrews. It was most 
natural for a Jew rejecting Christ to go back to 
Judaism. He would not apostatize in the Chris- 
tian faith, but altogether from it and into a sys- 
tem of belief whose special function it was to 
reject and denounce Christ. We can see at once 
how impossible, speaking after the manner of 
men, it is to reach and persuade such a man to 



160 The Articles of Religion. 

come back and repent. Hence the force of the 
words : "They crucify unto themselves the Son of 
God afresh, and put him to an open shame." By 
their position they make themselves one with his 
murderers. This seems to be the explanation of 
this passage. Otherwise the Book abounds with 
appeals to backsliders to return and be saved. 

The danger of apostasy, so plainly taught in 
the Scriptures, should often and earnestly be 
preached to our people as a safeguard against the 
insidious power of sin. Any belief that we can 
have an indulgence in sin without its reasonable 
penalty, any hope that God, by some special provi- 
dence or grace, will intervene to save us from the 
legitimate consequences of our own conduct, is 
very pleasing to the carnal mind and goes to the 
aid of that evil spirit whose desire is to lead men 
to ruin. 

All life, presenting as it does daily and hourly 
choices between good and evil, is a constant test- 
ing and consequently a constant building of char- 
acter. This is real, not sham. The testing is 
genuine, not mockery. Each man must stand 
the tests of life, and so rise above them or fail in 
the hour of trial and be crushed beneath them. 
Favoritism is not admissible. Character must be 
genuine, and to be such must have the integrity 
which has stood the crucial tests in the winnowing 
processes of Providence. 



ARTICLE XX. 



THE CHURCH. 

"The visible Church of Christ is the aggregate, or 
sum total, of all the congregations of faithful men, in 
which the pure word of God is preached and the sacra- 
ments duly administered, according to Christ's ordi- 
nance in all those things that of necessity are requisite 
to the same." 
II 



THE CHURCH. 



Our Article on the Church is manifestly inade- 
quate. It is descriptive of one single Church. A 
dozen members united in a society, having a pas- 
tor to preach the pure word of God and adminis- 
ter the sacraments, would be the visible Church 
on earth, according to that Article. The visible 
Church of Christ is composed of myriads of such 
congregations. 

The Article is a good definition of a Christian 
Church. Therefore the visible Church of Christ 
must be the aggregate of all such Churches. 
Jesus said but little about the Church. One im- 
portant saying should be noted, "Upon this rock 
I will build my Church/' meaning the bedrock 
of truth contained in Peter's confession: "Thou 
art the Christ." This first confession of faith 
presents Christ as the long-promised Messiah, 
the Son of the living God. He is himself the 
only true foundation. The Church can be built 
on no other. "For other foundation can no man 
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (i 
Cor. iii. 1 1.) 

There is no good reason to believe that Jesus 
meant to found his Church on Peter or any other 
mere man. Peter means "stone," but it does not 

(i6 3 ) 



164 The Articles of Religion 

mean the rock on which the Church is built. 
"Thou art Peter [TreVpo?, petros, a stone], and 
upon this rock [ircTpa, petra] I will build my 
Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it." (Matt. xvi. 18.) If Jesus had in- 
tended to say he would build the Church on Peter, 
he would have used the same word in the second 
clause. The use of a different word shows a dif- 
ferent meaning. The difference in the meaning 
of these words is this : Uerpos (petros) is a stone, 
detached, such as one might pick up and handle ; 
irlrpa (petra) is a rock, concreted in the earth and 
immovable, as a cliff. 

Peter himself gives the meaning Christ in- 
tended : "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, 
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and 
precious [this is Christ], ye also, as lively stones 
[these are the Church members, including Peter 
and all the apostles], are built up, a spiritual 
house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual 
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 
(1 Pet. ii. II, 12.) This settles forever the ques- 
tion as to the foundation upon which the Church 
is built. 

The visible Church of Christ, then, is the sum, 
or aggregate, of all the congregations of Chris- 
tians in all parts of the world, of whatever name 
or order. It is composed of people of every na- 
tion, tribe, or race, of every shade of color, and, 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 165 

speaking practically, all the tongues of earth. 
No doubt the pure word of God as preached to 
many of these congregations is sadly mixed with 
errors and superstition. Many workers in this 
vast field are probably using mostly wood, hay, 
and stubble in building on this foundation; but 
in many, very many Churches the warning, com- 
forting, saving note of the gospel trumpet rings 
with the clearness of truth and the energy of 
power. Gold, silver, precious stones are worked 
into the ever-growing temple of Christian civili- 
zation and will ultimately explain God's relation 
to men and reconcile men to God. 

But we must draw a clear distinction between 
the Church of God and the kingdom of God. No 
words were oftener on the lips of Jesus than "the 
kingdom of God" or "the kingdom of heaven," 
phrases identical in meaning. All his parables 
and, we may safely say, all his teachings were to 
explain the nature of his kingdom. 

The Church is visible, tangible, material in its 
outward aspect. The kingdom of God is wholly 
inward and spiritual. "The kingdom of God is 
within you." The Church is necessarily con- 
cerned with groups or bodies of men. The king- 
dom of God is concerned with the individual, each 
one separately. "The kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Rom. xiv. 17.) 



166 The Articles of Religion 

Thus the kingdom of God on earth has its place 
in the soil, or spiritual nature, of man. It is the 
reign of God in human life. It is the divine Be- 
ing touching, cleansing, comforting the human. 
It is God communing with man. "It is the di- 
vinity which stirs within us," and saves and 
guides, the trusting soul. In the mind of Jesus 
no interest in all the universe seems to compare 
with this in point of importance. He made it the 
one purely unselfish petition in the prayer he 
taught us to pray : "Thy kingdom come, thy will 
be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Thus the 
universal instinct to pray was yoked with the 
cause of his kingdom. At that very time men, 
women, and children in every part of the world 
were praying. Many prayed to unworthy gods. 
Many prayers were lascivious appeals to gods of 
impurity. Many addressed gods of cruelty with 
screams of fear. 

What a stroke of wisdom to draw this insup- 
pressible instinct of the human soul into the serv- 
ice of the kingdom of peace ! It was wisdom and 
goodness unsurpassed to lift this mighty force 
from the channels of impurity and fear into joy- 
ous and sweet communion with a loving Father. 
Think how this prayer has extended over the 
world by the conversion of nations to the Chris- 
tian faith since Jesus taught it first to his dis- 
ciples ! And how it will continue to increase in 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 167 

volume and power as other nations shall join the 
mighty host in praying for the kingdom to come ! 
And what a glorious fact that this prayer has 
been answered every day and every hour since 
Jesus gave it to his Church! And how it will 
still more and more be answered as the kingdom 
with increasing power shall come unto the souls 
of increasing myriads of people ! 

The kingdom of heaven is sometimes presented 
as a new and wider experience in the divine life. 
Jesus said to his disciples: "Except ye be con- 
verted, and become as little children, ye shall not 
enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matt, xviii. 
3.) This was about six months before he set his 
face to go up to Jerusalem for the last time. Long 
before this he had said to these same disciples: 
'The kingdom of God is within you." Three of 
them had seen his glory in the transfiguration, 
and all of them had concurred in the great con- 
fession: "Thou art the Christ" For three years 
they had listened to the most wonderful Teacher 
the world ever had. They were, therefore, the 
best-instructed men, religiously, in all the world 
at that time. Beyond question they had enjoyed 
much of the kingdom of God. 

What, then, did Jesus mean? Simply this: 
that the kingdom of God spreads immeasurably 
before us with successive opportunities for the 
enjoyment of God and for the accomplishment of 



i68 The Articles of Religion 

his purposes in us. Several times before this he 
had made similar statements. As far back as 
the Sermon on the Mount (that sermon was 
mainly to the disciples) he had said, "Ye are the 
salt of the earth ; ye are the light of the world" ; 
and yet in close connection with these sayings he 
declared, "Except your righteousness shall ex- 
ceed the righteousness of the scribes and Phari- 
sees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." 

From all this we can perceive that the kingdom 
of heaven is an ever-ascending scale of enjoyment 
and usefulness. When we have gained one de- 
gree of divine life, then we stand at the door of 
a still higher degree. So that to each one of us 
it may be said again and again : "Except ye turn 
and become as little children, ye cannot enter into 
the kingdom of heaven." 

One of the most important doctrines taught in 
regard to the kingdom is that all little children 
are partakers of its salvation. "Suffer the little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them not, 
for of such is the kingdom of heaven." Then all 
children who die before reaching the age of ac- 
countability are saved. Thus fully one-half of 
the world is saved without an effort of gospel 
grace. Then from all lands, not only from the 
enlightened but even from the most degraded, 
there is constant increase in the population of 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 169 

heaven. Even from the sudd of the Upper Nile, 
where the race seems to reach its lowest level, 
where the negro, on plots of land which here and 
there rise but little above the waters, builds his 
mud hut cone-shaped, leaving but a single hole 
through which he crawls into the mud and dark- 
ness to escape the stinging insects, and lives much 
like his neighbor, the crocodile; even from that 
benighted region the innocent ones are ascending 
to the Father of mercies. 

The visible Church of Christ is the best outward 
expression of this inner spiritual kingdom. But 
the Church, great as it is, cannot fully represent 
this greater spiritual kingdom. These two great 
forces most generally work together. Each aids 
the other. But the spiritual is the most potent, 
because it is the most direct power of God. While 
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one who believes, it is the Spirit which gives 
the gospel its force ; and the Spirit is independent 
of all human agency. The gospel reaches many, 
but the Spirit of God reaches all human souls. 
Wherever that Spirit touches a human life, the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand. 



ARTICLE XXL 



ROMISH ERRORS. 

"The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, par- 
dons, worshiping and adoration as well of images as of 
relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing 
vainly invented and grounded upon no warrant of 
Scripture, but repugant to the Word of God. Like- 
wise the sacrifice of masses, in which it is commonly 
said that the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and 
the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, is a blas- 
phemous fable and dangerous deceit." 



ROMISH ERRORS. 



These are called Romish errors because they 
are sanctioned, if not really taught, by high of- 
ficials of the Roman Catholic Church and prac- 
ticed by members of that communion. They are 
relics of a dark age, the accretions which grew 
up about the Christian faith in the ages when the 
human reason was to a great extent dormant and 
superstition grew almost unchecked. Such er- 
rors are strangely out of place in this twentieth 
century, and especially in this enlightened coun- 
try. 

To use an image or picture to aid in worship 
is to violate the plain commandment of God: 
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
image, or any likeness of anything that is in 
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or 
that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt 
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them." 
(Ex. xx. 4, 5.) Whenever the priest elevates the 
host, or elements of the sacrament, for the pur- 
poses of worship, he and the people who bow in 
worship to the same are alike violators of this 
commandment. 

The doctrine of purgatory, with the conven- 
ient idea attached that the priest may pray one 

(173) 



174 The Articles of Religion. 



out for a money consideration, is entirely too 
commercial for genuine religion. So also the 
idea that the priest has the pardoning power and 
can release a man from his sins for a fee is of 
the same character. The whole scheme smacks 
of commercialism and fraud. 

The infant must be baptized into the Church 
in order to be saved. The marriage, to be valid, 
must be celebrated by some official of the 
Church; the people must be often shrived 
through life ; when they die, they must have ex- 
treme unction; when they are dead, they must 
be prayed out of purgatory. All this, of course, 
is to be paid for. Thus the money clutch is upon 
the man from the time he is born till long after 
he is dead. Truly there was never a scheme 
better devised for wringing money from the un- 
suspecting and credulous, whether rich or poor. 
Therefore, in the interest of humanity, we are 
bound to protest against these errors as "fond 
things vainly invented and grounded upon no 
warrant of Scripture, but repugnant to the Word 
of God." 



ARTICLE XXII. 



SERVICE IN THE PEOPLE'S LANGUAGE. 

"It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God 
and the custom of the Primitive Church to have pub- 
lic prayer in the church or to minister the sacraments 
in a language not understood by the people. ,, 



SERVICE IN THE PEOPLE'S LANGUAGE. 



The fourteenth chapter of I Corinthians is 
almost wholly devoted to the subject of speaking 
and praying in church in the language under- 
stood by the congregation. No doubt many lan- 
guages were spoken in Corinth at the time. This 
had led to confusion in the church service. Per- 
haps some professed to be inspired to speak in 
strange tongues ; and this, as has been the case 
in time since, led to unseemly jargon without 
sense. 

The apostle makes it plain that if one speaks 
in a tongue not understood by the audience he 
must interpret or have an interpreter. Clearly 
the essential thing is that the people be instructed, 
and the teaching must be in their vernacular. 

There is not the most remotely plausible rea- 
son for speaking to any people on any subjects 
in a language they do not understand. The cus- 
tom of rendering church service in a dead lan- 
guage probably grew out of a superstitious rev- 
erence for the language itself. Why there 
should be such reverence is hard to find. Both 
the Greek and the Latin, while they enshrine 
beautiful and noble literatures, which have been 
the delight and help of the nations, nevertheless 
12 (177) 



178 The Articles of Religion. 



are loaded with as much vulgarity, licentious- 
ness, and false religion as can be found in any 
of our ordinary languages. It is not the tongue, 
but the sense, which counts in any communion 
among men, and such communication is impos- 
sible except in a language mutually understood. 



ARTICLE XXIII. 



THE SACRAMENTS. 

"Sacraments ordained of Christ are not only badges 
or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather 
they are certain signs of grace and God's good will 
toward us, by the which he doth work invisibly in us 
and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and con- 
firm, our faith in him. 

"There are two sacraments ordained of Christ our 
Lord in the GospeJ; that is to say, Baptism and the 
Supper of the Lord. 

"Those five commonly called sacraments — that is to 
say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and 
Extreme Unction — are not to be counted for sacraments 
of the Gospel, being such as have partly grown out of 
the corrupt following of the apostles and partly are 
states of life allowed in the Scriptures, but yet have 
not the like nature of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
because they have not any visible sign or ceremony or- 
dained of God. 

"The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be 
gazed upon or to be carried about, but that we should 
duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive 
the same they have a wholesome effect or operation; 
but they that receive them unworthily purchase to them- 
selves condemnation, as St. Paul saith." 



THE SACRAMENTS. 

The sacraments are held in vastly different 
estimates by the different bodies of Christians. 
On the one extreme are those who believe in the 
literal presence of the body and blood of Christ 
in the consecrated bread and wine. They, of 
course, hold these elements in worshipful adora- 
tion. On the other extreme are the spiritually 
minded Quakers, who have no sacraments at all. 

How the good Quaker satisfies his conscience 
in the neglect of the sacraments we do not 
know ; but his error — for error it surely must be 
—is far less reprehensible than that of the other 
extreme. Any view of the sacraments is better 
than that which makes them objects of worship. 
The brazen serpent was at first an emblem of 
God's healing power among the people; but 
when it became an object of idolatrous worship 
it was destroyed. Better have no sacraments 
than that they should be an occasion of idolatry. 

What is a sacrament ? Our Article says that it 
is a sign of grace; that it is a visible, external 
sign of an inward, spiritual grace. Literally, the 
word means that which binds, a tie that binds 
a Christian to his duty, to his God, and of course 
to his fellows. 

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1 82 The Articles of Religion 



There is a well-known law of our language by 
which the suffix ment added to certain verbs 
changes the verb to a noun, and the noun thus 
formed stands for the completed action of the 
verb thus changed. Thus "achieve" becomes 
"achievement," the completed work of achieving ; 
"accomplish" becomes "accomplishment," the fin- 
ished work of accomplishing; and so of many 
verbs. 

The same law applies in the formation of Latin 
words. Sacro means to give, to devote, to con- 
secrate. Add the suffix, and we have the sacra- 
mentnm, the oath which binds. This is the com- 
pleted action of giving, devoting, or consecrat- 
ing. The Romans spoke of their army as a sac- 
ramental host — a host bound, given, or conse- 
crated to the service of the State. So the sacra- 
ments are intended to bind us to God, to duty, 
and to each other. 

Perhaps we have no word in our language 
which more exactly agrees in meaning with the 
Latin sacro than our verb to pledge. Now, if 
we assume to coin a word by adding the suffix, 
we have pledgement, the finished act of the verb 
to pledge. In taking the sacraments we pledge 
ourselves to fidelity in the service of God. 

The sacraments are, therefore, helps or aids 
in the Christian life. They help to keep us in 
the path of righteousness. Not that they have 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 183 

any intrinsic effect or operation, but they are 
aids to faith. They help to strengthen, deepen, 
and confirm our faith; and this leads to more 
persistent, more rational, and better service — a 
more spiritual worship and a more useful activity 
among men. 



ARTICLE XXIV. 



BAPTISM. 

"Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark 
of difference whereby Christians are distinguished from 
others that are not baptized; but it is also a sign of 
regeneration, or the new birth, The baptism of young 
children is to be retained in the Church/' 



BAPTISM. 



Baptism is the application of water to a per- 
son as a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit 
in the nature of that person. Water baptism is 
the sign of spiritual baptism. Water as a sign 
of purification was used by the Jews from re- 
mote times. There is historic evidence of its use 
in this way for more than fifteen hundred years, 
from the time of Moses to the close of the New 
Testament canon. The usual method of apply- 
ing the water was by sprinkling. 

First of all, the nation as a whole was bap- 
tized and thus set apart as a separate and holy 
people. This took place at the crossing of the 
Red Sea. "Moreover, brethren, I would not 
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fa- 
thers were under the cloud, and all passed 
through the sea ; and were all baptized unto 
Moses in the cloud and in the sea." (i Cor. x. 
i, 2.) The Psalmist tells us how this was done: 
"The clouds poured out water." (Ps. lxxvii. 17.) 
Thus the entire nation of men, women, and chil- 
dren were baptized in a shower of rain. They 
were baptized unto Moses, into the government 
or dispensation of Moses. As Moses was the 
representative of God, they were in this baptism 
devoted to the service of God. The Red Sea 

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1 88 The Articles of Religion 

was the birthplace of their freedom. Egypt was 
forever behind. They were henceforth a sepa- 
rate and independent people. In God's own way 
and by his agency they were now baptized into 
a new life. 

From that time, if not from a more ancient 
time, water was used an an emblem of purifica- 
tion, and for this reason was called the water 
of separation. It separated the purified from 
the unclean. The idea of separation became so 
imbedded in Jewish thought that long before our 
Saviour's time there grew up a strong religious 
party known as Pharisees. The word means 
separated. It was derived from the Hebrew 
farash, to separate. 

So important was the purification that minute 
directions were given for the preparation of the 
water to be used. These directions are found in 
Numbers xix. A sacrifice was burned to ashes, 
and the ashes were kept ready for use at all 
times. When some of the ashes were put into a 
vessel of water, thus imparting a sacrificial value 
to the water, the process was complete. The wa- 
ter thus prepared was used for purifying. 

This purification was to be a statute in Israel 
forever. This is how the water was to be ap- 
plied: "And a clean person shall take hyssop, 
and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the 
tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the per- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 189 

sons that were there, and upon him that touched 
a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: 
and the clean person shall sprinkle upon the un- 
clean on the third day, and on the seventh day/' 

The practice here enjoined was in use when 
Jesus was on earth. At the wedding feast in 
Cana of Galilee "there were set there six water- 
pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying 
of the Jews, containing two or three firkins 
apiece." (John ii. 6.) Likewise in the Gospel 
of Mark we find reference to the same custom: 
"For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they 
wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradi- 
tion of the elders. And when they come from 
the market, except they wash [pai/ri'owrcu, ranti- 
sontai, sprinkle], they eat not. And many other 
things there be, which they have received to hold, 
as the washing [PaTTTiviwvs, baptismous, baptism] 
of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables." 
(Mark vii. 3-5.) 

I have followed Westcott and Hort's revised 
Greek Testament; and I doubt not it is received 
as the final authority by a larger number of the 
best and most unbiased scholars than is the case 
with any other Greek Testament. Here, in the 
same place and in reference to the same practice, 
the words for sprinkle and baptize are used as 
identical in meaning. 

The case is plainly this : The Jews from remote 



190 



The Articles of Religion 



times used water in a religious ceremony for 
purification. Moses prescribed the method of 
preparing the water and its use. This was a 
statute to be perpetual in all their generations. 
The method of applying the water was by sprin- 
kling. As long as they spoke the Hebrew lan- 
guage they used a word which means sprinkle. 
They also called it purifying. The words were 
used interchangeably. 

We find in the New Testament the same use 
of water, still called purifying. The writers of 
the New Testament use the Greek tongue, and 
they use the word baptism to express the an- 
cient method of sprinkling. We therefore see 
that, in Jewish use and thought, sprinkle and 
baptize meant the same thing, both as to method 
and religious signification. 

Baptism in the New Testament meant to the 
Jewish mind precisely what sprinkling meant in 
the Old Testament. In both it was the use of 
water in purification. In the course of time they 
lost sight of the spiritual cleansing which the 
water was meant to typify and spoke of the ap- 
plication of water as the act of purifying. 

Therefore, in the New Testament, baptize and 
purify were to the Jew the same thing. "Then 
there arose a question between some of John's 
disciples and the Jews about purifying." (John 
iii. 25.) The contention was about purifying, 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 191 

and the matter was referred to John. "And they 
came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he 
that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou 
bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and 
all men come to him." The contention about pu- 
rifying was a controversy about baptism. Clear- 
ly there was not a shade of difference in their 
minds between purifying and baptizing. 

Therefore it is evident that, whatever various 
meanings the word baptize may have with profane 
authors, it has in the New Testament one spe- 
cific meaning, and that is to purify. The words 
baptize, sprinkle, and purify, as used in the New 
Testament, mean the same thing. The perform- 
ance was an everyday practice and too well un- 
derstood for description. As well tell how a man 
washed his face or tied his shoe. 

Therefore, when the disciples were commanded 
by the Master to go and baptize the nations, the 
methods of purifying must have been the concep- 
tion of the duty to be performed. We cannot see 
how, with their Jewish training, they could have 
had any other thought as to the physical action 
to be performed. They could not but see that the 
command was in exact accord with their con- 
stant usage and in line with all their training in 
regard to purification, though extended now to 
all the nations. 

They must have perceived also that it was a 



192 The Articles of Religion. 



fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures. Thus Isaiah says of the Mes- 
siah: "So shall he sprinkle many nations." (Isa. 
In. 15.) I know that some would render the 
word startle, but there is really no warrant for 
such translation. It is an effort to discount an 
unpleasant witness. 

This very word plays a part in New Testament 
history. It was this very part of Isaiah that the 
Ethiopian was reading as he traveled along the 
desert road from Jerusalem to Gaza, when Philip 
joined him and from this very scripture preached 
unto him Jesus, only six verses intervening be- 
tween the words quoted above and those men- 
tioned in the Acts; and that, too, without any 
change in the subject. You see the passage has 
in it the very method by which the disciples were 
to incorporate the nations — by baptizing them. 

Ezekiel, looking to spiritual conditions in the 
Messianic reign, says : "Then will I sprinkle clean 
water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all 
your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I 
cleanse you." (Ezek. xxxvi. 25.) Clean water 
was to be used ; no more need of sacrificial ashes. 

Thus in the Old and New Testaments we trace 
the meaning and method of baptism. It is a sac- 
rament by which the application of water in the 
name of the Trinty is the outward sign of the 
inward spiritual grace. 



ARTICLE XXV. 



INFANT BAPTISM. . 

"The baptism of young children is to be retained in 
the Church." 

13 



INFANT BAPTISM. 



We recognize the right of infants to baptism, 
and yet in practice we have been very lax. If it 
is right for the children of some Methodist 
homes to be baptized, then all the children of all 
our homes should be baptized. 

What is the relation of the child to the Church ? 
That surely must depend upon his relation to 
Christ. Does the child belong to Christ, or does 
he not? This is the question. It must be an- 
swered one way or the other. On this one ques- 
tion hinges the right of the child to baptism into 
the Church of Christ. To my mind there is but 
one answer. The child does belong to Christ. 

The atonement of Christ was the redemption 
of the human race. If that means anything, it 
surely means that all the children have been re- 
deemed by Christ, bought with his blood. Then 
they belong to him. He has the first right to 
every child born in the world. St. Paul in de- 
fining the work of the atonement tells us that 
by this great act of Christ the free gift came 
upon all men to justification of life. Surely any 
person of any age who has received the free gift 
of God unto justification of life is a proper sub- 
ject of baptism. This is exactly the relation chil- 

(195) 



196 



The Articles of Religion 



dren sustain to God; therefore they are proper 
subjects for baptism into his Church. 

The relation which any person sustains to 
Christ must determine whether or not that per- 
son is a fit subject for baptism. A man pro- 
fesses faith in Christ ; and if his conduct seems to 
be in accord with his profession, we baptize him 
in the belief that he is accepted of Christ. In this 
we may be mistaken ; he may dissemble. But w r e 
can make no mistake of this kind in the baptism 
of little children. Jesus has plainly spoken on 
this point, "Suffer the little children to come unto 
me, and forbid them not/' and for the very good 
reason, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." 

But if infants are proper subjects for baptism, 
why are we not plainly commanded to baptize 
them? Many regard this objection as a plausi- 
ble one. But rightly considered it is no valid 
objection, but is rather favorable to belief in in- 
fant baptism, because it is just what should have 
been expected, and there was no occasion for any 
specific direction. Some things are too well un- 
derstood, too much a matter of course, to be ex- 
plained. 

Infants had always been in the Church, and 
nobody in apostolic times ever thought of ex- 
cluding them. Religion is innate in the human 
breast. The very first pair were worshipers of 
God, and the outward forms of worship began 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 197 

with the beginning of the race. Cain and Abel 
offered sacrifices. Noah did the same for him- 
self and family. Wherever Abraham pitched his 
tent, there he built an altar. In those times each 
head of the family was the priest of the family, 
and each family or tribe was a Church. This was 
the only visible form of worship known to them. 

The Church had growth, like everything con- 
nected with the development of man. The race 
began with the family ; the families combined into 
tribes; the tribes developed into nations. In all 
this the Church was developing. When the Is- 
raelites became a nation, they also became a 
Church. St. Stephen refers to the Church in the 
wilderness — that is, to the Jewish nation. There 
was God's visible Church on earth, with its 
priests, prophets, sacred books, and well-arranged 
services. All the men, women, and children were 
its members. 

Into this Church Jesus was born. He was cir- 
cumcised the eighth day, had offerings made in 
his behalf according to ecclesiastical regulations, 
was confirmed at the age of twelve as a son of 
the law, and reared strictly as a child of the 
Church. 

Jesus organized no Church; but under the 
ministry of the apostles Churches were estab- 
lished, at first exclusively of Jewish converts, and 
these Churches naturally took the form of the 



198 The Articles of Religion 



synagogue, and the constituency remained the 
same. There was a change of faith, but no 
change of personnel. Children were included as 
a matter of course. 

Consequently, just as should have been ex- 
pected, the apostles received converts by families. 
The jailer and his household were baptized at 
midnight in the Philippian jail. Paul at another 
time baptized the household of Stephanus. Lydia 
and her household were baptized ; also the family 
of Cornelius and that of Crispus. These heads 
of families never thought of excluding their chil- 
dren when they came into the Christian Church. 
These are examples of the way in which the 
apostles and their associates built up the first 
Christian communion. 

If there had been such a thing as the exclusion 
of infants from the Church in which they had al- 
ways been recognized, that certainly would have 
been noted with emphasis. 

The very nature and design of the Christian 
Church call for the baptism of infants into its 
membership. The aim of the Church is to include 
in its membership all who are in the spiritual 
kingdom of God. The Church should, as far as 
possible, use the spiritual force of God in the 
world. All who are God's in spiritual affinity 
should be his by sacramental covenant. 

By parable, by simple illustration, by plain state- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 199 

ment Jesus explained the nature of the kingdom 
of God. The character of the kingdom was 
viewed from every angle. The kingdom of God 
is within you ; it is spiritual ; it is God in human 
nature. Among his plainest statements are those 
which show the relation of children to his king- 
dom : "Suffer the little children to come unto me, 
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom 
of heaven/' On another occasion he took a little 
child up in his arms, while teaching the great 
lessons of humility and unselfishness, and said: 
"Except ye be converted and become as little 
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of 
heaven." Again : "Whosoever shall humble him- 
self as this little child, the same is greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven." 

These statements clearly show that Jesus recog- 
nized little children as subjects of the saving 
grace of the kingdom. Then surely, if the visible 
Church on earth is to be a reflex of the spiritual 
kingdom of God, infants certainly have a right to 
baptism in the name of the Trinity and recogni- 
tion in the Church of God. Jesus regarded them 
as being more in accord with the mind of God 
than were the very chiefest of his apostles. 

We do not baptize children with any thought 
that the act of baptism will work any spiritual 
change to make them acceptable to God; but 
by baptism we recognize the fact that they are 



200 The Articles of Religion 



already acceptable to God. We dedicate to God 
the children who are already his, and we assume 
obligations which are already ours to train our 
children so as to preserve all the spiritual vitality 
they already have ; so that when they become per- 
sonally responsible they will accept Christ by 
faith, and consciously experience the birth from 
above, and then by growth in grace through faith 
reach to higher and still higher attainments in 
spiritual life. 

By the baptism of our children and the obliga- 
tions thereto conjoined we aim to practice a wise 
spiritual conservation — a conservation of spirit- 
ual forces such as was enjoined upon parents in 
the earliest ages and has never been repealed. 
God said: "I know him [Abraham], that he will 
command his children and his household after 
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord to 
do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring 
upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of 
him." We see that the conferring of promised 
blessing upon Abraham hinged on his fidelity in 
commanding his children and his household to 
keep the way of the Lord. 

"Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy 
children, and thou shalt talk of them [the princi- 
ples of righteousness] when thou sittest in thine 
house, and when thou walkest by the way, and 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 201 

when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." 
In this twentieth century after Christ surely we 
are not to have a lower standard of spiritual con- 
servation than that enjoined in the twentieth cen- 
tury before his coming. 



ARTICLE XXVI. 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

"The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the 
love that Christians ought to have among themselves 
one to another, but rather it is a sacrament of our 
redemption by Christ's death; insomuch that to such 
as rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the same, 
the bread which we break is a partaking of the body 
of Christ; and likewise the cup of blessing is a par- 
taking of the blood of Christ. 

"Transubstantiation, or the change of the substance 
of bread and wine in the Supper of the Lord, cannot 
be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain 
words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a sacra- 
ment, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. 

"The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the 
supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. 
And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received 
and eaten in the supper is faith. 

"The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by 
Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, 
or worshiped." 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



The Lord's Supper is a memorial sacrament. 
It is to remind us of the death of Christ for our 
sins. It is of the nature of an object lesson; the 
broken bread and flowing wine are intended em- 
blematically to bring vividly to the mind the 
lacerated body and flowing blood of the crucified 
One. "This do, as oft as ye shall drink it, in re- 
membrance of me." 

This sacrament was instituted on Thursday 
evening, at the close of the Paschal feast. This 
was the night of the betrayal. Jesus ate the 
Passover with the twelve, and this sacrament im- 
mediately followed. Many have tried hard to 
prove that Judas was not present to partake of 
this very solemn feast with his fellow disciples. I 
have failed to find any evidence that he left be- 
fore the institution of the supper; therefore I 
conclude that he was present and received the 
sacred emblems by the hand of the very Christ 
he had already agreed to betray. 

It appears from this that Jesus did not exclude 
Judas, though fully aware of his wickedness. 
Judas evidently took the Passover with the 
others, and it is almost as certain that he shared 
also in the supper. This accords with the teach- 

(205) 



206 



The Articles of Religion 



ings of St. Paul : "Let a man so examine himself, 
and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that 
cup." Has an officiating minister a right to re- 
fuse the sacrament to any whom he may believe 
to be unworthy? Who is to judge of the fitness 
of a man to take this supper? 

I once heard a very eminent preacher and theo- 
logian make the statement that only those who 
had been baptized should be allowed to take this 
supper. I have never yet found any Scriptural 
authority for that decision. 

Our Discipline very plainly shows the attitude 
of mind in which we should approach the com- 
munion service. "Ye that do truly and earnestly 
repent of your sins, and are in love and charity 
with your neighbors, and intend to lead a new 
life, following the commandments of God, and 
walking from henceforth in his holy ways, draw 
near with faith and take this holy sacrament to 
your comfort, and make your humble confession 
to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your 
knees." 

This points out the spirit in which we should 
commune and leaves each communicant to de- 
cide whether or not these conditions are complied 
with. 

May a penitent seeking pardon partake of this 
sacrament? I do not recall any scripture, pro 
or con, on this subject; but it does seem that an 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 207 

honest seeker after God might use any means of 
grace calculated to increase his faith. 

Many very excellent people have scruples 
about taking this sacrament because they feel so 
unworthy. They stumble at the caution of St. 
Paul : "He that eateth and drinketh unworthily 
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not 
discerning the Lord's body." Read the preceding 
verses in regard to this matter, and you will see 
that the Corinthians had turned this sacrament 
into a bacchanalian feast. Each prepared his 
own provisions, and no doubt each proudly tried 
to excel his neighbor in the richness of his spread. 
When they came together each family ate their 
own luncheon, some to gluttony, while others 
drank to drunkenness, and the poor were neg- 
lected and put to shame. We may readily agree 
with Paul that this was eating and drinking un- 
worthily. 

But it does not apply to the humble Christian 
who feels unworthy. That is the way all should 
feel. We confess in the prayer of consecration : 
"We are not worthy so much as to gather the 
crumbs under thy table." In this lowly spirit 
let us examine ourselves to see that we are really 
sincere and spiritually honest, and in this frame 
of mind take the consecrated emblems of the 
broken body and shed blood of our Redeemer. 



ARTICLE XXVII. 



OF BOTH KINDS'. 

"The cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay 
people; for both the parts of the Lord's Supper, by 
Christ's ordinance and command, ought to be adminis- 
tered to all Christians alike." 

14 



OF BOTH KINDS. 

That the laity should ever have been deprived 
of the right to receive both parts of the sacra- 
ment is most astounding. There is not the 
slightest hint of authority in the New Testament 
for such a deprivation. In the very institution of 
the supper Jesus gave the cup to the disciples, 
saying, "Drink ye all of it" (UUtc t$ airov iravr^, 
Piete ex autou pantes, "Drink of it, all of you"). 
Surely we can have no better formula. To serve 
the wine as Christ served it is all we should de- 
sire. 

It may be said that the disciples were ministers 
rather than laymen, but we have only to notice 
the practice of the apostles to see that laymen 
were served with both bread and wine. In I 
Corinthians xi. 21 we find Paul sharply reproving 
the laymen of Corinth for making such free use of 
the wine as to become intoxicated. They had per- 
verted the sacrament into a bacchanalian feast. 
In the same epistle he says : "The cup of blessing 
which we bless, is it not the communion of the 
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, 
is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" 
How can there be any communion of the wine if 
the priest drinks it all? The very idea of com- 

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212 



The Articles of Religion 



munion is to have worship in common. Then 
notice that the very same sort of communion is 
expressed in regard to the bread, showing that 
it was the custom, both with Paul and those to 
whom he was writing, to take both parts of the 
sacrament. 

"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and 
drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Thus 
Jesus teaches that he is the great Source of spirit- 
ual life. Laymen as well as ministers have need 
of this divine food. We do not, of course, eat 
the flesh and blood of Christ; but spiritually we 
must all have this food in order to live. 

We are not dependent upon the sacrament of 
bread and wine for this food, for we can by faith 
receive it at all times. In the sacrament we have 
only the emblems of this divine food. But why 
deny one part of these emblems to the laity ? Do 
they not need it as much as the priest? One 
reason given for this denial is that the wine has 
become the real blood of Christ, and there is dan- 
ger of the great sacrilege of spilling it by care- 
less handling. This doctrine of transubstanti- 
ation, or the change of the substance of the 
bread and wine into the actual body and blood of 
Christ by priestly consecration, is too unspeakably 
absurd for serious thought in this twentieth cen- 
tury. Life is too short and the world is too busy 
to listen to such nonsense. 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 213 

It is to be greatly regretted that a sacrament 
so simple and so appropriate should be perverted 
by superstition to such an extent as to lose its 
beautiful significance and be made an object of 
idolatrous worship. The sacramental occasion 
should be one of great spiritual profit to all the 
communicants. It is calculated to increase the 
faith, to warm the affections, to draw Christians 
closer together, to quicken every good impulse, 
and to strengthen all good desires. 



ARTICLE XXVIII. 



THE MARRIAGE OF MINISTERS. 

"The ministers of Christ are not commanded by 
God's law either to vow the estate of single life or to 
abstain from marriage; therefore it is lawful for them, 
as for all other Christians, to marry at their own dis- 
cretion, as they shall judge the same to serve best to 
godliness. ,, 



THE MARRIAGE OF MINISTERS. 

The Bible does not enjoin either celibacy or 
the marriage state for ministers. The priests 
who officiated according to the Mosaic ritual 
married as freely as other men. If this prece- 
dent was to be set aside and a life of celibacy en- 
joined, that fact would have been clearly stated. 
Naturally we look to the teaching of Jesus on 
this as on other subjects. Fortunately the ques- 
tion was put directly to him, and his answer 
should forever settle this question. 

Jesus was teaching the sacredness of the mar- 
riage relation and emphasizing the law that only 
one offense, conjugal infidelity, could possibly 
sever that relation: "His disciples say unto him, 
If the case of a man be so with his wife, it is 
good not to marry." The disciples were then 
preparing for the ministry. It was as if he had 
been giving instruction in a theological seminary 
where young men were getting equipment for the 
work of the ministry. Then was the time above 
all others to enjoin the state of single life if that 
had been best. He replied : "All men cannot re- 
ceive this saying, save they to whom it is given." 
We learn from the next verse that, in rare in- 

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2l8 



The Articles of Religion 



stances, some men may make themselves eunuchs 
for the kingdom of heaven's sake. 

Passing from the teaching of the Master to 
the practice of his immediate followers, we learn 
what construction they put on his words. Thus 
Paul said: "Have we not power [or liberty] to 
lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apos- 
tles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and 
Cephas ?" (i Cor. ix. 5.) The apostle is here 
speaking for himself and others, especially Bar- 
nabas, who chose to live and labor as he did. It 
was a declaration of independence, a notification 
to all that he intended to be free. He had the 
right to demand a support for his preaching or 
to refrain from that and live and labor in pov- 
erty. He had the right to marry like other apos- 
tles and like the brethren of the Lord and like 
Peter. 

Thus incidentally we have a flood of light on 
the practice of the first ministers of the Chris- 
tian Church. The apostles as a rule were mar- 
ried men. The brothers of the Lord were mar- 
ried. One of these brothers, James the Just, was 
for many years the Bishop of Jerusalem. He 
was accounted one of the holiest men on earth. 
No doubt he was married. Then Cephas, or 
Peter, the very foremost of the apostles, was a 
married man even at the time of his call to the 
ministrv. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 219 

There being no Scriptural injunction on the 
subject, each minister is left free to determine in 
which relation he can be most useful. In some 
conditions it is undoubtedly best that a minister 
be not encumbered with a family. Such was the 
case with Bishop Asbury and his colaborers. 
The firm foundations of American Methodism 
were laid almost exclusively by bachelor preach- 
ers. 

The work had to be done in the sparsely set- 
tled wilderness. Preaching or riding was an 
everyday business. The distances were great, 
the accommodations poor, roads often only a 
blazed path, streams unbridged, and dangers 
thick everywhere. In such circumstances the 
less encumbrance the better. The Church in the 
wilderness was intensely militant, and the cavalry 
was the main arm of the service. Only bachelors 
of the most consecrated type could meet the 
conditions. 

But that was exceptional. Now that the work 
of the ministry is mainly to be done in the regu- 
lar pastorate, in settled communities, it is no 
doubt best, as a general rule, that ministers marry 
and rear families like other men. It stands to 
reason that the purity and efficiency of the min- 
istry can best be secured in this way. 



ARTICLE XXIX. 

THE RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE 
CHURCHES. 

"It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should 
in all places be the same, or exactly alike ; for they have 
always been different, and may be changed according to 
the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, 
so that nothing be ordained against God's Word. Who- 
soever, through his private judgment, willingly and 
purposely doth openly break the rites and ceremonies 
of the Church to which he belongs, which are not repug- 
nant to the Word of God, and are ordained and ap- 
proved by common authority, ought to be rebuked open- 
ly, that others may fear to do the like, as one that of- 
fendeth against the common order of the Church and 
woundeth the consciences of weak brethren. 

"Every particular Church may ordain, change, or 
abolish rites and ceremonies, so that all things may be 
done to edification." 



I 



THE RITES AND CEREMONIES OF THE 
CHURCHES. 



Rites and ceremonies are nonessentials in re- 
ligion. This does not mean that they are not 
important. The ritual gives the manner of per- 
forming public religious worship; it is the pre- 
scribed way in which the functions of the Church 
are to be performed. Ritualism is the dress which 
religion wears while on public duty. A lady may 
be dressed very simply and yet very appropriate- 
ly. So a Church service may be simple and short 
and yet be performed in a very impressive man- 
ner. 

It is important that public worship be appro- 
priate and reverent. Decency and order do not 
in any way detract from the spiritual intent and 
fervency of devotion. 

Ritualism, like every conventionality, may easily 
be carried to excess. It may readily degenerate 
into routine and formality. We must not com- 
mit the folly of caressing the body while we per- 
mit the life, unobserved, to ebb away. Spiritual 
life is the great essential ; without this all forms 
are dead. And there are times in our assemblies 
when emotion properly has the right of way — 

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224 The Articles of Religion 



when spiritual power leaps beyond all forms and 
expresses itself with true prophetic zeal. May 
these seasons of refreshing from the presence of 
the Lord come often and with greater power ! 

It is in the regular services of the Church and 
in the sacramental ceremonies, as well as in the 
matrimonial and burial services, that the ritual 
is most appropriate. 

There is danger that the ritual, or more espe- 
cially the order of service, may become too elabo- 
rate and require too much time. Those who love 
ritualism are always the people most apt to bring 
pressure on the General Conference to have the 
service improved as they perceive it, and that 
most frequently means some addition. This 
strong tendency needs to be held in check. 

A prolonged ritual means a short sermon. 
The sermon should always be the essential part 
of Church service. Preaching is the divinely or- 
dained method of saving the world. Throw 
forms to the winds rather than have the sermon 
crushed into a sermonette. The choir should 
never eclipse the preacher. Already the sermon 
is crowded by the preliminary services. There 
may, however, be some compensation in this. It 
may cause our preachers to condense and by in- 
tensive use of words crowd much into a short 
time. 

Just how much ritual to use is a very nice 



A mended, Su pplemented, and Explained. 225 

question to decide. Many of our meetings no 
doubt should be informal, such as our prayer 
meetings, revival services, and often the evening 
service on the Sabbath. This would give variety, 
check the tendency to formality, and possibly 
bring into active service a larger number of our 
members. 

15 



ARTICLE XXX. 



THE RULERS OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA. 

"The President, Congress, the General Assembly, the 
Governors and councils of State, as the delegates of the 
people, are the rulers of the United States of America, 
according to the division of power made to them by 
the Constitution of the United States and by the Con- 
stitutions of their respective States. And the said States 
are a sovereign and independent nation, and ought notj 
to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction. ,, 

This Article has a footnote which is as important 
as the Article itself and is of equal authority. It 
reads as follows: 

"As far as respects civil affairs, we believe it the 
duty of Christians, and especially of all Christian min- 
isters, to be subject to the supreme authority of the 
country where they may reside, and to use all lauda- 
ble means to enjoin obedience to the powers that be; 
and therefore it is expected that all our preachers and 
people will behave themselves as peaceable and orderly 
subjects." 



THE RULERS OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA. 

It is eminently proper for a Church to enjoin 
the allegiance of its members to the government 
under which they live, especially to assure all 
foreign governments where our people go as mis- 
sionaries that our members within their jurisdic- 
tion will not in any way interfere in civil affairs. 

The Church in the United States, comprehend- 
ing under that term all recognized religious 
denominations, is entirely separate from the 
State. It has no civil function in its own right ; 
but it stands for law and order, for good govern- 
ment and equal justice to all. It insists on good 
citizenship, decent living, and correct deport- 
ment in high places and low. It appeals to the 
deeper and more spiritual capabilities of the race 
and seeks to make the best elements in human 
nature dominant and controlling. It seeks to 
develop, to train, and to perfect the moral and 
spiritual nature in man, and thus to make him a 
power for good that he may stand as a beacon 
throwing the light of righteousness over the 
problems of human society. 

The Church labors with the consciousness that 
if the individual citizen can be made pure in mo- 

( 22 9) 



230 The Articles of Religion 

tive, correct in deportment, and honest in public 
trust, the government will be safe, and the nation 
will work out its true destiny. Thus the Church 
stands for the highest ideals, both as to the man 
and the nation. Of course, then, the acceptable 
Church member is a good citizen, a true patriot, 
and a promoter of all that is best in government. 

The Church thus rendering loyal support to the 
State may in turn demand such protection by law 
that she will be undisturbed in her public wor- 
ship, in her right of property, and in all other 
ways that good citizens are protected. 

This, it appears to us, is the true relation of 
Church and State — loyalty on the one part and 
protection on the other. The Church cannot af- 
ford to do less than this as to duty and should 
not aspire to more as to privilege. 

The relation of Church and State in the his- 
tory of civilization is an interesting study. Of 
course the subject is too broad for these pages. 
We can only notice briefly the subject in Biblical 
history. In the patriarchal ages the patriarch 
was both magistrate and priest. He was to a 
great extent the government, looking after both 
the civil and religious interests of his family or 
tribe. 

When the Israelites left Egypt they became a 
nation and also a Church. The government was 
dual. Moses represented the civil and Aaron the 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 231 

ecclesiastical authority. After the establishment 
in Canaan, there was a long period without any 
regularly established central government. This 
was the time of the judges. During this time the 
tabernacle, the religious center, was about the 
only real bond of unity. Military necessities occa- 
sionally called forth a strong man who for a 
time united some of the tribes and thus effected 
more or less general cooperation. This state of 
things continued till Samuel. This great prophet 
judged Israel more extensively and more wisely 
than any of his predecessors. He went from one 
town to another judging the people and really 
reunited the tribes into a nation. After the es- 
tablishment of the monarchy, the high priest was 
recognized as the authority in spiritual affairs. 
The kingly line was superseded by governors 
after the captivity, but the office of high priest 
continued to the end of the nationality. 

The Christian Church in apostolic times de- 
veloped altogether independently of the civil 
power. It depended wholly on voluntary con- 
tributions to carry on all of its operations. In 
this regard it was like the Church in America. 
In this country we have no semblance of a State 
Church, and want none. We have no public fund 
from which to draw support, and we want none. 
The promptings to liberality by an enlightened 
conscience furnish all the funds necessary to 



232 The Articles of Religion 



carry on the regular work of the Church and to 
accomplish any other work which may be ap- 
proved by the Church constituency. 

The great benefit of this condition is that the 
membership of the Church must be enlightened 
so as to have a comprehensive grasp of all our 
plans and have a consecrated cooperation in all 
our work. The enlightening of the membership 
so as to accomplish any great work is of more 
value than the work itself. 

The promoters of the apostolic Church were 
very emphatic in teaching obedience to the civil 
authority. In this they had the example of 
Jesus. When he healed lepers he commanded 
them to show themselves to the priests and to 
make such satisfaction as the law required. He 
paid taxes, even though he questioned the right 
of the collector to exact them. 

"Let every soul be subject to the higher 
powers. For there is no power but of God ; the 
powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever 
resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of 
God; and they that resist shall receive to them- 
selves condemnation." (Rom. xiii. I, 2.) Paul, 
having left Titus in Crete to put the Churches of 
the island in order, afterwards wrote to him giv- 
ing specific instructions about what to do and to 
teach. And here is what he told him to teach in 
regard to civil authority: "Put them in mind to 



A mended, Supplemented, and Explained. 233 

be subject to principalities and powers, to obey 
magistrates, and be ready to every good work." 
(Titus iii. 1.) 

St. Paul evidently had a high estimate of the 
value of law and order. The Roman government, 
while the best the age could give, was far from 
being complete in the protection of its citizens. 
Paul himself suffered much because of inadequate 
protection. This will help us the more to appre- 
ciate his earnest plea for obedience on the part 
of Christians. As Christians we should try to 
promote good government, to have bad or inef- 
ficient laws substituted by better ones, not by 
revolutionary agitation, but by peaceable and or- 
derly methods. 



ARTICLE XXXI. 



A CHRISTIAN MAN'S GOODS. 

"The riches and goods of Christians are not common 
as touching the right, title, and possession of the same, 
as some do falsely boast. Notwithstanding every man 
ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give 
alms to the poor of his ability." 



A CHRISTIAN MAN'S GOODS. 

There is no communism nor extreme socialism 
taught in the Bible. The only social movement 
which had the appearance of such a state was 
that which prevailed in the first Christian Church 
in Jerusalem. People were thrilled with the new 
doctrine of the almost inconceivable love of God, 
who had redeemed the world by the awful death 
of his Son on the Roman cross. Faith had at once 
reached high flood tide. As a result a mighty 
wave of benevolence swept the minds of vast 
multitudes, so that many were willing to pour 
out their gifts in great profusion. 

There was a great need back of this tide of 
benevolence. It was called forth by the un- 
usually large number of the poor in this first 
Christian Church. Jerusalem, like every holy 
city, was thronged with the poor. Like all such 
cities, it was burdened with the poor, the sick, 
the blind, the halt, and the lame who had gath- 
ered there to die. As a compensation many of 
the rich came for the same purpose. Among 
others of this class, Joseph of Arimathea had 
come and had prepared himself a tomb. That 
tomb was hallowed above all others, for there the 
body of Jesus lay. These poor people would nat- 

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238 The Articles of Religion 



urally be among the very first to be attracted by 
the great religious movement in the city at that 
time. Most probably the miracles wrought by 
the hands of the apostles were among this very 
class. We may well believe that the manifesta- 
tion of such power, coupled with such glorious 
hope and living experience as were proclaimed 
by the inspired apostles, would sweep them into 
the Christian fold almost in mass. 

The apostles and their helpers, we may well feel 
assured, were overwhelmed by the stupendous 
task of taking care of such multitudes. Here 
was the great need for extraordinary liberality. 
Under the circumstances it is not surprising that 
this condition called forth an immediate response 
of a most generous character. Those who had 
money gave without stint. Many who had extra 
lands or houses sold them and gave the proceeds. 

All this created unusual conditions. The poor 
must have felt that a new year of jubilee had 
come. Thus we read: "And the multitude of 
them that believed were of one heart and one 
soul : neither said any of them that aught of the 
things which he possessed was his own. But they 
had all things common." The most that this lan- 
guage implies is that many who had possessions 
in money and land held these things subject to 
the needs of the poor. They were willing to con- 
tribute to any needed expense. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 239 

But all this liberality was entirely voluntary. 
There was no demand that any should give. It 
was Christian benevolence, not communism. 
There was no general surrender of property to 
a common fund. Had there been, there would 
have been no occasion for special mention. The 
giving of land and houses was the exception and 
not the rule. 

The case of Ananias and Sapphira throws 
light on these transactions. These two people, 
husband and wife, had agreed to sell a posses- 
sion and give a part of the price while pretend- 
ing to give the whole. "But Peter said, Ananias, 
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the 
Holy Spirit? and to keep back part of the price 
of the land ? While it remained, was it not thine 
own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine 
own power?" (Acts v. 3, 4.) Thus we see there 
was no compulsion whatever. 

Still another incident sheds light on this sub- 
ject. The first jar in the primitive Church was 
over this very work of supplying the poor. 
"There arose a murmuring of the Grecians 
against the Hebrews, because their widows were 
neglected in the daily ministration." (Acts vi. 
I.) We clearly see from this that the poor were 
fed separately or received their portion to them- 
selves. The well-to-do did not share in the dis- 
tribution. The Grecians (Jews speaking the 



240 The Articles of Religion 

Greek language) had a suspicion that their poor 
were neglected. This led to the appointment of 
deacons to look after this very work. 

Many years later Paul visited the city and had 
a conference with James, Peter, and John. They 
consented for him to go to the Gentiles, while 
they labored with the circumcised. Paul gives 
their parting admonition: "Only that we should 
remember the poor, the same which also I was 
forward to do." So Paul in his missionary jour- 
neys was persistent in taking collections for the 
poor saints at Jerusalem. No doubt the other 
apostles did the same in their missionary tours. 
Thus for a generation the poor saints at Jerusa- 
lem were objects of solicitude not only in the city, 
but also with those whose activities extended in 
many directions. This apparent communism 
was, therefore, really an organized charity to 
care for the poor. 

Jesus is our best Teacher in regard to our so- 
cial relations. "As ye would that men should do 
unto you, do ye also to them likewise." This is 
the true standard of sociological responsibility. 
It is the true standard of justice, equity, and 
liberality. Conduct based on this principle will 
be acceptable to God and satisfactory to our own 
sense of obligation. 

This is a self-evident law of righteousness, 
self-evident to each man because it makes each 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 241 

man's estimate of himself the standard of obliga- 
tion. It accomplishes the apparent impossibility 
of making a wise selfishness the law of intelli- 
gent liberality. Your obligation to any man 
under any circumstances can at once be deter- 
mined if you consider what you would desire of 
that man for yourself if you were in his place, 
and he in yours. This is the golden rule. It will 
fit every possible condition. 

This is the safe and sane rule to apply in the 
exercise of liberality. It teaches every man what 
he should do in every case. With what tenacity 
may a Christian hold his goods? In the primi- 
tive Church in Jerusalem the believers were of 
one heart and one soul. "Neither said any of 
them that aught of the things which he possessed 
was his own." Those who had goods still held 
them in possession unless they chose to sell them 
for the public good. Their goods were held sub- 
ject to the necessity of the poor. 

This seems to suggest the true idea of liber- 
ality : to hold our possessions subject to what we 
believe to be the will of God concerning them. 
That is just what these people at Jerusalem did. 
They fully believed in the presence of the Holy 
Spirit to speak by the mouth of the apostles, and 
they held their possessions subject to the divine 
call. "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" 
This is the correct attitude of mind toward every 
16 



242 The Articles of Religion. 



responsibility and, of course, toward this question 
of giving. 

In this way we give according to the sugges- 
tions of an enlightened conscience. No one 
should be expected to give on any other basis. 
This is equivalent to taking God into our busi- 
ness, to live, to labor, and to give as he directs. 
To give properly requires wise discrimination ; to 
give much requires the money-making faculty. 

The old Jewish law required a tenth for the 
Lord. That was a legal charity befitting a legal 
age. To give one-tenth was a great hardship on 
some, and no burden whatever on others. As an 
example or precedent, it is still of use. But the 
more plastic rule which Jesus gave bends to fit 
each separate case. It calls for investigation, for 
discrimination, and for intelligent distribution. 
It is the golden rule which satisfies a sanctified 
intellect and divinely quickened conscience. Let 
this be graven deeply in every soul : "As ye would 
that men should do unto you, do ye also to them 
likewise." 



ARTICLE XXXII, 

A CHRISTIAN MAN'S OATH. 

"As we confess that vain and rash swearing is for- 
bidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ and 
James his apostle, so we judge that the Christian re- 
ligion doth not prohibit, but that a man may swear 
when the magistrate requires it, in a cause of faith and 
charity, so it be done according to the prophet's teach- 
ing, in justice, judgment, and truth." 



A CHRISTIAN MAN'S OATH. 



The words of Jesus here referred to are a part 
of the Sermon on the Mount. "It was said to 
them of old, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but 
shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths." This 
refers to the custom of making vows, especially 
under the influence of excitement and passion. 
That such custom was liable to many abuses is 
at once apparent. 

Jephthah's vow was of this character. In the 
peril of war he was thrilled with a sense of God's 
power to give him victory. Under that excite- 
ment he made the vow that if God would give 
him the victory, then on his return home whatso- 
ever first met him should be devoted to God. His 
daughter, his well-beloved and only child, was 
the first to come forth with joyous greetings. 
According to the prevailing ideas of the time, he 
felt bound by his vow, or sacred oath, to devote 
that daughter to God, probably not in burnt sac- 
rifice, but to perpetual virginity. Even in that 
early age the false idea prevailed that one could 
be more devoted to God in single than in mar- 
ried life. 

Another instance of this pernicious practice of 
imposing on one's self a rash vow or oath is that 

(245) 



246 The Articles of Religion 



of Herod, who was by this means trapped into 
the murder of John the Baptist. 

Something like this survives in our own time. 
A man in a great rage swears that he will kill his 
fellow man on sight and then feels bound by his 
oath and his love of consistency to carry out the 
threat. The abnormal state of mind produced 
by great excitement, especially when one is domi- 
nated by anger, is not the proper one in which 
to make resolutions for future guidance. 

It appears from the Word of the Great Teacher 
that in his day men even in ordinary conversation 
were in the habit of swearing by heaven, by the 
earth, by Jerusalem, and also by their own heads. 
This practice, which took the old law for an ex- 
cuse, seems to be what Jesus condemned. It 
does not appear that he had any reference to judi- 
cial proceedings in court. "Let your communi- 
cations [your ordinary talks one with another] 
be yea, yea, or nay, nay." The passage in the 
Epistle of James is simply an echo of the Sermon 
on the Mount and has, of course, the same mean- 
ing. James was the Lord's brother, and his 
epistle shows that he had imbibed deeply of his 
Brother's sentiments. 

Profane swearing is a most disgusting and 
senseless habit. It is the one crime without a 
motive. Nothing can be gained by it; no good 
reason can be given for its use. It is humorously 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 

said of John Brooks, who used to preach ex- 
tensively in this country, that he illustrated the 
folly of profane swearing by representing the 
devil as going a-fishing and using various kinds 
of bait to catch the different kinds of men. For 
the lustful he baited with beauty, for the thieves 
with goods, for the murderers with hate, a 
motive for each crime; but for the profane 
swearer he used no bait, but simply threw out the 
hook, chuckling to himself: "That fool bites at 
the naked hook." 

In this connection we may, of course, insist on 
the sanctity of an oath. Under no circumstances 
should a man forswear himself. Perjury is a 
crime, and a man by false swearing becomes a 
criminal. But it is a great condescension to 
human weakness that an oath should be neces- 
sary to obtain the truth in any case. A man's 
word should be as good as his oath. A man 
should have that cast of character that makes his 
word so certain that no oath could make it more 
trustworthy. 



ARTICLE XXXIII. 



THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. 

"There will be at the end of the world a general 
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the 
unjust." 



THE GENERAL RESURRECTION. 



This doctrine is plainly taught in the Scrip- 
tures. Jesus, the highest Authority, most clearly 
proclaimed it: "The hour cometh, in the which 
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 
and shall come forth; they that have done good, 
unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have 
done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation." 
(John v. 28, 29.) "And this is the will of him 
that sent me, that every one who seeth the Son, 
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life ; 
and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 
vi. 40.) 

St. Paul regarded this doctrine as so funda- 
mental that, in his view, without it there could be 
no real Christianity : "Now if Christ be preached 
that he rose from the dead, how say some among 
you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then 
is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, 
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also 
vain." (1 Cor. xv. 12-14.) Thus clearly St. 
Paul rests the whole system of Christianity on 
the certainty of the general resurrection: "Be- 
hold, I show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 

(250 



252 The Articles of Religion 

twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the 
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible, and we shall be changed/' ( 1 Cor. 
xv. 51, 52.) The dead are to be raised incor- 
ruptible — that is, not subject to decay or to death 
— and those who are living at the time shall be 
changed into the same incorruptible nature. 

The mystery of this doctrine has led to many^ 
widely different theories. Many reject any real 
resurrection. With them the whole subject is to 
be construed in some spiritual sense. That hu- 
man bodies soon after death are decomposed and 
go back to the original elements of which all mat- 
ter is composed is a fact recognized by all intelli- 
gent people. When the process is complete, the 
elements that were in any human body are not 
by any means distinguishable from other ele- 
ments of the same kind. The carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen, iron, and all other constituents are 
just the same as these elements wherever found. 
In turn they may have been vitalized in hundreds 
of successive human bodies. 

Not only so, but the man who lives to old age 
has worn out and cast away about a dozen suc- 
cessive bodies. His body has been changing con- 
tinuously every hour of his life, throwing off 
effete matter and taking in a new supply. The 
identity of particles was never for a moment 
necessary to the insurance of personal identity. 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 253 

When a person first wakes to full consciousness 
of life, he is but a few years old. When he 
reaches twenty, he is conscious that he is the 
same person who was before only a small boy. 
But certainly he did not then have the same body 
he has now, for he is now three times as heavy. 
Through all changes personal identity remains 
the same. A man may be greatly emaciated by 
sickness and then again become robust ; but mem- 
ory, reason, and consciousness assure him that he 
is the same person. 

Now, since man may wear out many bodies 
and at last contribute a very thin one to the 
grave, what body will he have in the resurrec- 
tion? This very question was a live one in St. 
Paul's time: "How are the dead raised up? and 
with what body do they come?" The question 
shows plainly that the men who lived then were 
as much alive to the difficulties in the case as we 
are to-day. St. Paul comprehended clearly the 
whole case as presented in the question. Fortu- 
nately we have his answer. It seems to me pass- 
ing strange that so little attention has been given 
to this answer by writers and speakers on this 
subject. 

"Simpleton, that which thou sowest is not 
quickened, except it die." (1 Cor. xv. 35.) The 
seed cannot have a future life without dying. 
So Jesus said, referring to himself: "Except a 



254 



The Articles of Religion 



corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it 
abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringeth forth much 
fruit." (John xii. 24.) The real life cannot 
be had till after death. The grain of wheat in 
the ground dies and lives at the same time. That 
is what the Christian does. When the body dies, 
the soul takes on higher life. This is true also 
of the body, only there is an indeterminate lapse 
of time between its death and its living again. 

"Thou sowest not that body which shall be." 
Thus the very first statement of St. Paul is that 
you do not sow the body that shall be. Does this 
really mean that the body buried is not the one 
raised? Or is it the spiritual splendor and final 
adaptation to the higher mode of living which 
makes it different? See what Paul teaches, "But 
bare grain," naked grain (yu/xvov kokkov). You 
sow the naked grain, but you do not see the naked 
grain springing from the ground. You see the 
living blade, then a stalk, then other stalks grow- 
ing out from this central one, forming a cluster 
with numerous blades, and finally the heads or 
ears of wheat, a hundredfold more than the sim- 
ple grain sown. 

The development of this cluster of ripened 
wheat from the single grain is the figure, the 
parable which illustrates the resurrection. It is 
the direct answer by an inspired writer to the 
twofold question : "How are the dead raised up ? 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 255 

and with what body do they come?" Surely, if 
we would learn about the resurrection, this is the 
passage to study. 

Then, "How are the dead raised up?" Every 
one is ready to answer: "By the power of God." 
Certainly, and also in a manner similar to the 
way wheat grows from the grain ; otherwise this 
parable would be without meaning. The wheat 
grows by the force of nature, another name for 
the power of God, for "all power is of God." 
Power from the same great Source must effect 
the resurrection. 

The wheat plant grows from the wheat grain 
because the grain has in it a germ of life ; it is 
vital; otherwise it would simply rot in the 
ground. There is no break in the life; this in- 
sures the future growth. So also with the man. 
The real man never dies; only the body dies. 
The soul is vital, No parable can fit every point, 
and here is where the points of this parable vary. 
There is, nevertheless, a real comparison. It is in 
the continuity of life in each case. The wheat 
grain carries its life into the ground. The hu- 
man spirit carries its life up to God, who gave it. 
There is no break in the human life ; this insures 
the resurrection. The grain of wheat can live in 
another form, have a future life, because it is 
alive. So the man has a future life simply be- 
cause he does not die. The wheat assimilates to 



256 The Articles of Religion 

itself, into its own nature, the materials which, 
through the mysteries of growth, form the body 
which it needs for the perpetuity of its kind. 
Just so the spirit, the soul, at the proper time 
may assimilate to itself, into its own nature, the 
materials, earthly materials, such as now compose 
our bodies, digesting them to the exact nature 
and consistency necessary for the spiritual body 
which it needs for eternal service. 

The objection no doubt will be made that ma- 
terial things cannot by any kind of growth or 
assimilation become spiritual. But does not the 
soul of man, though wholly spiritual, have 
growth? Is the soul of an infant fully grown? 
If not, it must have growth. Where do the ma- 
terials of its growth come from? The soul, you 
say, is from God. Certainly. So is everything 
else. But God makes nothing of full stature at 
the initiative. The principle of growth, develop- 
ment, or evolution runs through all the processes 
of nature. God breathed into man originally the 
breath of life, and man became a living soul. That 
was for the race. Through natural generation 
the germ of a living soul has been transmitted to 
each human being. That is the way souls begin. 
But evidently souls have growth. The only ma- 
terials of growth known to us consist of food and 
drink. The Power which is producing souls 
constantly before our very eyes in the midst of 



Amended } Supplemented, and Explained. 257 

temporal environments may reasonably be ex- 
pected by a similar process and out of like ma- 
terials to produce our final spiritual body at the 
proper time. 

The resurrection, then, does not seem so ab- 
stract and mysterious when we come to think of 
it as similar to that we have witnessed during all 
our sojourn in the world. The life within us has 
built the bodies we have and has kept them in 
repair. We see no reason why that life may not 
build the final body by a similar process and out 
of like materials. 

Of course it is also true that with the lower 
animals the life, or the spirit in the animal, builds 
the body. Man is one with the animals in phys- 
ical structure; but he is more: he belongs to a 
superior order. "God breathed into him the 
breath of life, and he became a living soul." This 
places man in a class by himself. He was an 
animal complete in every animal structure before 
he became a man. There is no reason to suppose 
that he was a dead animal before God breathed 
into him the living soul. The soul was additional 
to the animal nature. This made him like God, a 
son of God. Man thus reached the level where 
he became a partaker of the divine nature. This 
is why he is immortal and the brutes are not. 
"The spirit of man goeth upward to God, who 
17 



258 The Articles of Religion 



gave it; the spirit of the beast goeth downward 
to the earth." (Eccles. iii. 21, xii. 7.) 

"But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased 
him/' The ordinary processes of nature are 
pleasing to God. The body thus formed is the one 
that it has pleased him to give: "And to every 
seed its own body." It matters not where the 
elements come from or in what bodies they may 
have been animate, when they pass through the 
laboratory of the wheat plant they become wheat. 
So with the human body. The food we take may 
have been swine, cow, wheat, squash, or pump- 
kin ; but when by assimilation it becomes a part 
of us, then it is our flesh, very dear to us, to be 
nourished and preserved with special care. The 
identity of the particles, whether from this food 
or that, has no effect on our personal identity, 
that which constitutes the sameness we call self. 
As the elements of combustion enter the candle 
flame and are consumed or changed into another 
form and thrown off, w T hile the flame remains; 
so the elements of nutrition which enter our vital 
structure are consumed, used up, or changed in 
form and thrown off, while the self remains the 
same. 

This may become clearer if w r e reflect that the 
bunch of wheat when ready for the harvest does 
not in all probability retain the least part of the 
original grain. The seed grain had but little 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 259 

substance, and that little was given to the infant 
plant in the first stages of growth. Then the 
plant sent out its tiny roots and began to gather 
substance from the soil. The life in the plant 
builds its own body. Examine the full-grown 
plant. All its substance has been gathered from 
the soil and the atmosphere. The small sub- 
stance of the seed grain was used and thrown off 
at the very beginning. The full-grown stalk is 
the body raised. The seed grain was the body 
buried or planted. It is a matter of utter indif- 
ference whether the new body has or has not any 
of the elements of the old. 

Therefore we conclude that the soul has all the 
vital energy and proper functions necessary to 
assimilate its own body when God's appointed 
time for the work shall come, and that it is a 
matter of no consequence whether the elements 
which shall enter into the new body were or were 
not connected with the old body which it had 
used and which it had cast aside as a worn gar- 
ment no longer needed. That there will be some 
recognizable continuity of form between the old 
and the new is an evident implication of Scrip- 
ture, as the new wheat after the processes are 
completed is similar to the grain which formerly 
decayed in the ground. 

But, after all, we need not be concerned as to 
how this great work is to be wrought. God has 



260 The Articles of Religion 

said that it shall be done; that is enough. This 
reasoning, whether sound or unsound, is not 
necessary to our belief in the resurrection. We 
may take refuge in the warm faith of the great 
apostle. Hear him: "Our conversation is in 
heaven; from whence also we look for the Sav- 
iour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change 
our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto 
his glorious body, according to the working 
whereby he is able to subdue all things unto 
himself." (Phil. iii. 20, 21.) 

As Jesus rose from the grave with the same 
body which had been crucified, some may think 
that this should be taken as a pattern of all bodies 
in the general resurrection and that we are to 
expect a similar resurrection of our entombed 
bodies. But the conditions are widely different, 
and may call for very different processes. It ap- 
pears that Jesus came from the grave with actual 
flesh, blood, and bones, just as he had lived. The 
wounds were in his hands, feet, and side. These 
were shown to his disciples as indubitable proof 
of his identity. He bade them examine him, 
saying: "A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye 
see me have." True, he appeared in their midst 
while the doors were shut, but this was rather a 
proof of his divine power. He might have done 
the same thing before his death. We must take 
his own positive statement that he had flesh and 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained, 261 

bones. His resurrection seems to have been 
similar to that of Lazarus and the others whom 
he raised — a resurrection back to corporeal ex- 
istence. That is not the kind of body we shall 
need, as it would not be suitable to our place of 
residence. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
kingdom of God." 

In his ascension to heaven or some time prior 
to this Jesus must have experienced a change 
similar to that granted to Enoch and Elijah when 
they were translated. It was foretold in prophecy 
that his body was not to see corruption after 
death. In this he was an exception to the general 
law. Our bodies are not to be fashioned like his 
body as it came from the grave, with its scars, 
with its flesh and bones, its appetite for food, in- 
dicating mortal conditions, but like unto his glori- 
ous body as it now appears ascended forever. 



ARTICLE XXXIV. 



THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

"There will be a general judgment at the end of this 
world, and all who have lived on the earth shall appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ, and every one shall 
be rewarded according to what he has done in this 
life, whether it be good or bad." 



THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

"God hath appointed a day in the which he will 
judge the world in righteousness by that man 
whom he hath ordained." (Acts xvii. 31.) 
"God shall bring every work into judgment, with 
every secret thing, whether it be good or whether 
it be bad." (Eccles. xii. 14.) "For we must all 
appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that 
every, man may receive the things done in his 
body, according to that he hath done, whether it 
be good or bad." (Rom. v. 10.) "When the 
Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the 
holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the 
throne of his glory; and before him shall be 
gathered all nations ; and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats." (Matt. xxv. 31, 32.) "Every 
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give ac- 
count thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt, 
xii. 36.) "It is appointed unto men once to die, 
and after that the judgment." (Heb. ix. 27.) 

These scriptures, and many like passages 
which might be quoted, teach beyond a doubt the 
certainty of a future general judgment. All the 
cavil, objection, and adverse criticism have failed 
to obscure the plain meaning of inspiration in 

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266 



The Articles of Religion 



regard to this subject. This is the great assize, 
the final day of accounts, in which the moral ac- 
tions of all the people of this earth shall be 
judged and rewarded by the perfect standard of 
right. This is most clearly taught in the Book. 
It is not for us to sit in judgment as to the neces- 
sity or propriety of the things God has revealed, 
but in the attitude of disciples let us endeavor to 
get a clear comprehension of that which is re- 
vealed. In such an attitude we may see the great 
propriety of a last great day of judgment. It 
comes from two sources — justice to man and jus- 
tification to God. 

I. As to man. When we leave this world we 
carry our destiny with us. Character carries des- 
tiny. Whether we go to our final home or to an 
intermediate state, in either case we are saved or 
lost. Then the objection is made, Why a final 
day of judgment? We may not be able to see 
all the reasons why, but some very readily appear. 
Man has lived his life openly before the world; 
it is according to all propriety that his actions 
should pass in review in a like public manner. 

Then man's work for good or evil does not 
cease with his life. It is not till all influences 
have worked out their final results that a man 
can be rewarded according to what he has done 
or failed to do. And while it is true that man 
after death follows the trend of his character 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 267 

as he did also before death and goes to his own 
place, it is according to the principles of wisdom 
and justice that the final reward should come at 
the end of the earth's career. Then every ac- 
tion, every influence, every motive will stand out 
in its own true light. Every human being will 
then see clearly the justice of his destiny. 

2. As to God. This world is to a very marked 
degree a world of sin, pain, and sorrow. The 
wisdom and goodness of God have often in con- 
sequence been severely questioned. Many have 
thought that a just God should not be the author 
of such a world. That men have made them- 
selves sinners, and thus become the authors of 
their worst miseries, has been pointed out. 
Nevertheless, a God of infinite wisdom could 
have made it otherwise. And surely the God 
who sees the end from the beginning has not been 
taken by surprise, so as to have on his hands a 
world worse than he expected. The only legiti- 
mate conclusion is that God made the world with 
full knowledge of what it would be and with am- 
ple resources to have made it of some other kind. 

Now, it is conceivable that the great Father of 
all would desire to make his intelligent children 
see that all things have been made as they are 
for a wise and worthy purpose. Therefore it is 
according to wisdom that there should be a great 
day of accounts in which it will be shown that 



268 



The Articles of Religion 



every man has received the exact and proper 
results of every day and every hour of his con- 
scious life — that the Judge of all the earth has 
done right. 

But the question comes back, Why did God 
make a world in which it is not only possible but 
extremely easy to sin and thus bring on his 
children the sure results of misery and anguish? 
Let us consider : Can there be real virtue without 
volition or the power of choice? and is not sin 
always possible to all who have volition? But 
surely volition might have been given in con- 
ditions where sin would not be so enticing. All 
experience shows that for human beings sin has 
always been crouching at the door. Sin is the 
easiest as well as the most disastrous of all mis- 
fortunes. To live and sin not is an ideal condi- 
tion rarely, if ever, attained by any inhabitants of 
earth. We have to fight temptation from the 
cradle to the grave. 

From all indications we have from revelation 
it appears that God has a supreme interest in our 
race. The scheme of redemption assuredly puts 
the destiny of the human race in the forefront of 
the chief designs of the Great Eternal. Looking 
at things from this exalted viewpoint, we may 
be able to see why we have been placed in con- 
ditions where sin is so easy and so enticing. As 
there can be no virtue, no strong character with- 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 269 

out temptation and freedom to sin, we see at 
once that the virtue will be valuable, the charac- 
ter strong and finished, in proportion to the force 
of the temptation resisted. 

Life is planned upon a scale calculated to pro- 
duce character of the most transcendent worth. 
The man who comes up from the base line of 
temptation and, despite the allurements and al- 
most compelling enticements to sin, to say noth- 
ing of the pressure, sometimes to the point of 
starvation, or the test of martyrdom for the truth, 
and still maintains his integrity, reaches the 
highest moral level attainable by created intelli- 
gences. Is it not reasonable that God should 
want such resplendent beings for his service in 
the eternal years to come? How else could they 
be produced? The mighty hosts which no man 
could number, who shall come out of great tribu- 
lation and wash their robes in the blood of the 
Lamb, will serve forever in character which could 
not have been produced in any other way. 

If it is true that God in the creation and preser- 
vation of the human race is working to produce 
the best quality of man, the supreme excellence 
of soul, and this quality is attainable only in the 
severe pressure of responsibility, then we can 
see that the crucible of life is well suited to the 
purpose intended. This is why the base line of 
responsibility is so near the limit of human 



270 



The Articles of Religion 



strength. Men are not tempted beyond what 
they are able to bear, but very often tempted to 
the limit of ability. In the travail of the soul the 
supreme excellence of soul, the final touch of 
character, is produced. "We know that all 
things work together for good to them that love 
God, to them who are the called according to his 
purpose/' (Rom. viii. 28.) "Our light afflic- 
tion, which is but for a moment, worketh for U9 
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." (2 Cor. iv. 17.) 

Therefore it appears that the world as it is, 
for the purpose intended, is the very best that 
could have been devised even by the God of in- 
finite wisdom and perfect goodness. "All evil 
in possibility is the awful price which had to be 
paid for any personal sainthood." 

The life of Moses is a fine illustration of how 
a human soul under divine guidance can reach 
the highest excellence. The first third of his 
life was given to education, to the enlargement 
of mind, the polish of attainment; the second 
third, to pastoral work and meditation (this was 
the ripening period of mental and moral quali- 
ties) ; the last third, to the test of severe leader- 
ship. Such a life turned out the highest type of 
manhood. If only one of a million of all those 
whose aspirations are the best can reach this high 
level, the race does not exist in vain. Viewed 



Amended, Supplemented, and Explained. 271 

from one angle, it might seem that a million 
failures had gone to the making of one supreme 
success. But the million were failures only by 
comparison. It may be that a million failures 
attended the final production of the Albemarle 
pippin, but the million failures were good apples 
and supplied a large place in the world's comfort. 
So the man who in high endeavor falls below 
the best rank has, nevertheless, reached a very 
superior rank and has abundant reason to be 
thankful. The man who makes no high endeavor 
must face the responsibility of being disobedient 
to the noblest possibilities within him. 

Foremost in the discussion on human existence 
and divine government, where the justice of God 
and the responsibility of man are concerned, is 
the great essential fact of redemption. Redeem- 
ing love follows man into every nook and corner 
of the world. It smiles on every proper and 
lawful enterprise, makes joyous all the labor and 
toil of conscientious workers. But its frown is 
on every evil work ; the accusing conscience gives 
unrest in every sinful employment. Emanating 
from the great Father of all, it has an answering 
station in the conscience of every man. "And I, 
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me." This proclaims the great moral law 
of gravitation. It is felt in every breast. All 
men feel the drawing, and it is only by their re- 



272 The Articles of Religion. 



sistance that they are kept from God and heaven. 
The still small voice which speaks in every con- 
science may be unheeded while sin runs riot, but 
it fails not as occasion permits to make itself 
heard. It speaks, however feebly and unheeded, 
in the brothel, in the dive, in the gamblers' club, 
in the scenes of riot and strife. Even in heathen 
lands it is the voice of the unknown God, inti- 
mating a hope as yet unfound. This great truth 
of redeeming love, with witness in every breast, 
will stand out in the last day above all else in 
"justifying the ways of God to man." 

Now, if the great final judgment shall fix for- 
ever in the mind of every intelligent being that 
God in dealing with men has not been less than 
himself, then such declarative judgment is in ac- 
cord with the eternal fitness of things. 



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